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stealingpotatoes · 4 years ago

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I am OBSESSED with your Desmond lives AU!! I want Shaun and Rebecca to be able to give Desmond all the hugs, I want Desmond to be able to choose to be an Assassin, to be able to help save the world again. Also, I am very curious about how you would resurrect Desmond, because I’ve had similar thoughts on such an AU, but I currently stick it near the end of Valhalla with the stuff that happens there. If you ever feel like expanding on it, I'd be super excited to see more!!!

first of all, AH THANK YOU!!! Yes those are ALL points that are very important to the Des Lives AU! Second of all, thank you so much for this ask in general!!! I was hoping someone would send an ask like this so I’d get an excuse to talk abt the AU more lmao XD!! I made this AU back in March last year, so there’s no Valhalla stuff in it, and it’s set right after/ during the Odyssey DLCs.

The long story short for my Desmond Rez (rezmond, if you will) is “shroud of eden, abstergo, and some Isu bullshit”. The long story long, however, is uh- you know what? I’m going to use this opportunity to explain the vague story I worked out last year -- but dw, I WILL get to the full ressurection explanation I thought through. However... I’m gonna have to tell the story in smaller parts because I’m lazy and can’t be bothered to write the whole thing out right now. So rez comes later and not in this post.

also uh-- before we start: I’m going to apologise for like… everything about the way I wrote this. It’s sort-of half fic, half that-way-your-friends-colloquially-tell-stories-that-you-can’t-keep-up-with. Mainly the latter. If you can make sense of this babbling, well done.

Anyways, without further ado, welcome to:

POTES TRIES TO EXPLAIN HER DESMOND (SORTA) LIVES AU: PART ONE

On the 21st of December 2012, Desmond Miles dies.

It’s not for nothing -- his sacrifice saves the entire world from a solar flare -- but he is dead. big ripz. The Assassins, his family, do not manage to recover his body. Abstergo gets it first. The Assassins hold a funeral as best they can. They mourn (all in their own ways), they keep fighting (for his memory), and they try to move on (they can’t).

On the 21st of December 2012, Desmond Miles died -- so when he shows up in a city in October 2018, almost 6 years later, it’s a bit of a shock for everyone. What’s even more of a shock is the fact he’s glowing like an Isu and has some abilities he DEFINITELY didn’t have when he died.

So Desmond wakes up in the middle of some city in he doesn’t know where (yeah ok i just never really worked out where the secret lab would be), with 1. no idea of how he got there and 2. no idea why his arms are glowing like that. He doesn’t get much time to think about it because then there’re a load of Abstergo goons with guns surrounding him. Des may have no idea what’s happening, but he knows one thing: when u see an Abstergo, it’s on sight. So he’s fighting them -- which is admittedly not fun or easy when you’re in the middle of a road and only have your fists as weapons. It’s not going well and then someone definitely manages to shoot Desmond which is very bad -- but then Des feels some very weird (but not unfamiliar) feeling and when he looks up from the bullet wound, every one of the Abstergos are on the floor???? He doesn’t think to check if they’re dead, just legs it out of there lmao.

Elsewhere, in an Assassin safehouse in an undisclosed location (can you tell I just didn’t think about the geography of anything), Mr Shaun Hastings is chilling on a balcony after a mission well done. Good for him. Then Rebecca Crane (queen ilu) yells “Shaun?” from inside.

“Rebecca?”

“Come inside. Now.”

Shaun immediately does so because he assumes it’s important or they’re under threat. “What happened? Have we been compromised?”

Rebecca doesn’t answer.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Shaun says, mostly joking and with a little smirk -- though Becs looks spooked.

“Desmond’s alive.”

Shaun’s not smirking anymore. “What?”

“Desmond’s... he’s alive.”

“What are you talking about? Are you high?” he’s totally about to look at her eyes to see if they’re all dilated and druggy.

“No Shaun, I mean it!” Becs harshly shoves her tablet into his hands.

Shaun doesn’t really know what he’s expecting to see when he looks down at the screen. What he’s not really expecting to see is Desmond Miles, who’s been dead for six years, fighting a load of Abstergo people -- while lined in Isu markings (also he’s not wearing a shirt forgot got to mention). ??? But wtf??!?! Desmond’s dead. That’s...

“It’s security camera footage from [the city]... About two hours ago.” Rebecca then swipes through more footage with shaky hands and explains that Des very violently burst out of an Abstergo facility in the city with glowing eyes and light leaking out of him (almost like an Apple of Eden). Then the glowing eyes and shining lights shuts off abruptly and Des is standing in the middle of the road looking very confused at his precursor-ass arms and chest. But Shaun is barely listening to what she’s saying and barely even looking at the screen.

“Where did you get this?” Shaun asks with a hollow voice, not looking up.

“The Initiates.” (bc who else)

Shaun looks at it again, then at Rebecca, and he’s mildly aware of the fact he’s slightly tearing up; “That’s fake. That can’t be him. He’s dead, Becs. We both saw the…” They both saw the autopsy footage the ac4 researcher got from Abstergo -- or at least, tried to watch it; they shut it off as soon as Shaun ran to the bathroom to throw up and Rebecca quickly joined him. They spent the rest of that night crying and drinking way too much.

“He died.” Shaun concludes firmly.

And so Becs is all like “yeah but what if he didn’t?? We need to find him. We need to investigate this.” There’s a determination in her eyes and Shaun knows he’s not going to be able to convince her to drop this -- not that he would. Desmond might be alive, and there is no way they’re going to leave him again.

They’re both standing there in pure shock and confusion, not saying anything.

Rebecca’s comm device lights up and starts buzzing, snapping them out of their general ????-ness. Becs goes to her desk to grab it, glances at the caller id and then shows it to Shaun. It’s William Miles.

The two of them share a Look. They know what he’s calling about -- what else would it be? There’s a stilted moment of neither of them doing anything before Rebecca finally accepts the call. “William?”

“How quickly can you and Shaun get to [city]?” William sounds shaken -- probably the same way Rebecca and Shaun are -- which is a very weird way to hear the Mentor of the Brotherhood sound. He’s seen the footage, hasn’t he?

“In a few hours,” Rebecca replies.

“Good. You need to get there as soon as possible.”

Everyone’s silent for a few moments.

“Is this about Desmond?” Rebecca asks. Dumb question.

There’s a pause. “You’ll be briefed on the ground.” And then he hangs up before Shaun or Rebecca can yell at him.

This is all moving very fast. Shaun and Rebecca share another look. Guess they’re going to [city]. ???

Fast forward several hours and Rebecca and Shaun are in The City [might just have to make the city london bc it’s the one city i actually know well -- however for plot reasons we’ll see later, a swiss city might be better… moving on!]. They get to an assassin base and meet up with Galina Voronina and 2 local assassins. Idk if you’ve read the comics, but to sum things up quickly, Galina and her team were investigating and then ended Project Phoenix -- so Galina now really wants to find out if the whole Desmond thing has anything to do with that.

Galina also wants to help Shaun and Rebecca get their friend back. They’re her friends, but equally she just lost one of her teammates to Abstergo (while ending Phoenix like 2 months ago, in the comics) and is uh- idk how to say it but she wants to help Shaun & Becs who have a chance to get their lost teammate back.

What follows is cool gang-gang trying to track down any trace of Desmond. You’d think it wouldn’t be hard to find a person who literally glows, but Desmond’s had centuries of Assassin training and knows how to hide lol.. which is making the Assassins’ job harder lol.

What’s making it even harder is the Assassins know they have to be quick because they know Abstergo is gonna be looking for Desmond too -- and they have way more resources and stuff. That being said, they’re also currently dealing with the fact one of their building and a decent amount of their guards just got absolutely mullered by weird-glowing-desmond.

The third issue with their entire thing is that they have no idea what they’re going to find when they find Desmond -- or if he even is Desmond. Is he going to be the man they knew but with weird powers? an Abstergo isu-clone? evil? they don’t know, and so they know they’ve got to be wary with him.

The Assassin gang spend some time (a couple of days at the very most) trying to track Desmond down. Rebecca is using all the tech she can get her hacker mitts on to find a trace of him and equally throw Abstergo off Des’ trail.

Soon enough, they get a solid lead -- don’t ask for the specifics, i don’t know them. But they get a lead, and it winds them up in an abandoned apartment building or also abandoned building site or something (a building in the city where there aren’t any people, basically).

Galina scans the place with Eagle Vision and she’s like “There is something very strange about this place.” (someone?) But she doesn’t see a person-shape anywhere. The 5 of them are hopeful but somewhat on edge.

They go about searching for any sign of Desmond. Galina’s pretty sure her Eagle Vision is just… Messing Up A Lot lol. Like something’s trying to heck with it. So she’s not quite sure it’s working correctly when a load of red figures appear somewhere below them.

She becomes a lot more sure when the red figures come into sight and START SHOOTING AT THEM! IT’S ABSTERGO!! CRAP! they found them!!

The assassins get down and a really cool fight scene w them vs the Abstergos in the building/ building site starts playing out. Woo Shaun and Rebecca electro-hidden-blade moments!! The fight splits the squad up and Shaun and Rebecca are away from Galina & the others -- but they dispatch the Abstergo guards near them.

They’re about to radio in that they’re all okay/ check if Galina & co are also good when they hear a slightly-too-loud footstep. They whip around to see an Abstergo guard aiming right at them, too far for either of them to get him before he shoots them. crap crap crap.

They would have been shot -- if someone hadn’t come up behind the Abstergo guard and snapped his neck (ouch).

The Abstergo drops to the ground, revealing the person who saved them and… Shaun and Rebecca stare in shock.

They’re both looking at Desmond Miles.

Desmond Miles, who is very much alive (and wearing a hoodie that is 100% stolen). And… with a load of glowing yellow lines on his face. But it’s Desmond -- it’s Desmond for sure. Holy shit.

Desmond doesn’t seem so shocked, only relieved to see them. Then his expression turns into serious confusion;

“What the fuck is happening?”

///

ok sorry leaving it there for now! hope you enjoyed what is here will continue soon

#desmond (sorta) lives au #desmond miles #rebecca crane #shaun hastings #galina voronina #william miles #Assassin's Creed #THANK YOU FOR THIS ASK i saw it this morning and have spent the day wanting to write this down but being in lessons /:#i know it's a complete mess however you'll have to excuse me i got excited #you opened a can of worms darling anon #I know I just used it as an excuse to Go Off but uh... sorry lol #asscreed #potes wrotes #sort of #thanks for the ask!#the night that the sun came up

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michelles-garden-of-evil · 4 years ago

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Episode 31 Review: Danger to the Cryonics Capsule

{ Not available on YouTube }

{ Full Synopses/Recaps: Debby Graham | Bryan Gruszka }

{ Screencaps }

And now we reach Episode 31, the first episode that isn’t currently available on YouTube. In fact, none of Week 7 is available on YouTube, which means no Bad Subtitle Special until the end of Week 8. (Is anyone else disappointed, or is it just me?) It’s a pity, because this is both a good episode and probably relatively unchanged from Ian Martin’s original script, although the absence of cheesy one-liners about the Devil does suggest some rewriting.

Here's the synopsis for this one, by the way, from the October 24, 1969 issue of The Plain Dealer:

It’s interesting to note that, while this summary comes from the period of the Lost Episode summaries, it still accurately describes the plot of the aired version of the episode. It doesn’t describe all of it, but then, none of the newspaper summaries do, before or after the Lost Episodes period. So, without further ado, let’s hurry back to the crypt on Maljardin and check on Erica Desmond’s cryonics capsule.

Dan trying to stop the cryonics tank from malfunctioning, despite knowing nothing about how it works. Not generally a smart idea.

While Jean Paul and Elizabeth are still with Vangie at the French Leave Café, the cryonics capsule's cooling mechanism malfunctions and its tank starts spraying water upwards. Dan tries to get it to stop spraying, but his efforts are in vain and he calls for Alison. She freaks out and they both run down there, but it doesn’t stop until just after Quito arrives around the corner.

There’s a scene where they’re trying to fix the machine and both of them are talking to each other, but the only audio we hear is the background music. Not sure if that was deliberate on the part of the writer or the director, or if it’s a blooper.

Alison asks Dan what he was doing down there, and he confesses that he was searching for the missing cyanide. There’s an interesting part where he says “I’m not sure I trust [Raxl] or that zombie,” and Quito--who is still hiding--clenches his fists as though angered by the reminder of his undead state.

Quito clenching his fists just before the intro.

After they return to the Great Hall, Alison blames Dan--"perhaps you inadvertently crossed the wires," she says--but he denies it. I'm surprised that Alison would accuse cautious, practical Dan of something so careless, but I don’t know him as well as she does. I’m also not sure how inadvertently crossing the wires would cause a tank to start spraying water, and I’m not sure the characters have any idea, either.

On the main island with Jean Paul and Vangie, Jean Paul recaps his cryonics scheme in a way that makes it clear that Ian Martin and/or the meddling executives really didn’t want him to repeat his catchphrase from the earlier episodes again:

Jean Paul on Erica’s resurrection: "It WILL happen. I made that vow the day my darling wife was stricken IN SPITE OF GOD!"

Raxl, of course, blames THE DEVIL JACQUES ELOI DES MONDES for the leak in the capsule’s tank. Raxl may be right--she usually is about matters of the occult--but after learning of the note from the Episode 30 script about who pushed Holly down the stairs, I’m thinking that the true culprit is someone else, someone less obvious. This scene also provides some blatant foreshadowing for the aborted plotline involving Tarasca:

Raxl: “The master must be protected from all demons, from the past and in the present, especially the witch who seeks to own him!”

The next shot.

A clear shot from shortly after of Elizabeth’s dramatic eye makeup.

The witch’s own version of Bissits Face™?

Meanwhile on the main island, Jean Paul convinces Vangie to hold a séance to contact Erica's spirit, which she is willing to do if slightly reluctant because she knows that she will eventually die on Maljardin. This suggestion excites Elizabeth, whom he has to remind that "it is not a game." She also asks if he would ever let her go, and he says that he would only let her return to Maljardin: proof that Jean Paul is still on board with the whole detained guests thing.

In the lab, Alison is searching the drawers of Dr. Menkin’s cabinet for his notes on Erica and finds a small notepad hidden among the papers in one. She reads it, her mouth agape, as Raxl enters.

What could it say about Erica?

Raxl lets Alison know that she knows about Dan searching for the missing cyanide in the crypt and is not pleased. She asks Alison if Dan doesn’t trust her, and she defends him, saying that none of them can trust each other anymore. Then they debate whether or not one of the other characters made the machine break down. Alison says that she now thinks it most likely broke down on its own, but Raxl still insists that someone (by which she means Jacques) tampered with it. Raxl has a point, because brand-new water tanks don’t generally start spraying out huge amounts of water on their own like the capsule’s cooling tank was doing.

SCENE INTERRUPTING DAN: “Hello, Raxl. I didn’t know you were interested in lab experiments, too.” (LOL)

Even though the leak was clearly the work of supernatural forces, Alison still tells Dan, "Don't make any more waves around here." Good luck with that. You may want to talk Jean Paul into having Quito buy you duct tape the next time you see him, then tape Dan’s mouth shut and tie his hands behind his back to keep him from tearing it off. That’s the only way to stop him from accusing Jean Paul of being a murderer and imprisoning all of you here. (It will also make it easier to get with your far more attractive brother-in-law, especially if you leave Dan in his bedroom while the two of you wrestle with your unresolved sexual tension in the Great Hall.)

In the crypt, Raxl tells Quito that it’s time to begin searching the caskets for the conjure doll and the silver pin--which I thought she said they already did in previous episodes, but I could be wrong. Maybe they just want to double-check to make sure they checked everywhere in the basement. Quito begins pulling open Jacques’ casket and we cut to a couple filler scenes with the other characters. When we return to Raxl and Quito, we find her back upstairs searching the fireplace in the Great Hall for the doll and pin. When Quito arrives, she asks him if he found them in the casket and he shakes his head. They head upstairs to continue their search--which, again, I thought she said that they already searched upstairs in Episode 29, but I suppose they just want to double-check.

Alison tells Dan when he next visits the lab that Dr. Menkin was trying to learn how to recreate an entire human body. Reminds me of Frankenstein. Dr. Frankenstein and Dr. Menkin both tried to play God by creating a living human body, but their experiments differed in that Frankenstein used cadaver parts to build his man, while Menkin’s experiments involved cellular regeneration and possibly (based on the sources referenced in Episode 26) robotics/artificial intelligence as well. I don’t know if Martin had planned to draw a direct parallel between the Drs. Menkin and Frankenstein at some point, but I suspect he was.

But Alison still doesn’t know enough about his experiments to satisfy her (or us), because all of Dr. Menkin’s notes from the six weeks before his death are missing. This is suspicious for obvious reasons, given his death shortly after her arrival, which she still doesn’t know was Jacques’ fault for no other reason than that she was upstairs at the time when he told Raxl his highly suspicious story about Menkin’s “accident” in the water.

Really, Dan? A bottle of cyanide goes missing and yet you willingly drink alcohol that’s been sitting out where anyone could pour poison into it? SMH Yet another reason why Alison should duct tape your mouth shut.

Dan is suspicious of Raxl--who is just about the last character they should suspect of hiding the cyanide or murdering either Erica or Dr. Menkin--but even more suspicious of Jean Paul. He and Alison also discuss how Jean Paul may not have filed Erica's death certificate with the authorities and how suspicious this makes him look--which is recap, yes, but which I bring up again because it is still relevant. I am really thinking (and was really thinking as far back as last fall) that Martin was originally planning to reveal that Jean Paul killed Erica and was trying to resurrect her out of some combination of guilt, regret, and fear that Erica's death would make him look suspicious. This would not only make these clues worth more than red herrings (or, should I say, kippers?), but it would also connect to all the things that Jacques says about he and Jean Paul not being so different. I have a whole theory about this, which I plan to discuss in a future post sometime later in this arc.

Alison also mentions some sea caves five hundred yards from an unseen cove on Maljardin, which she says Raxl told her about (unfortunately, I don’t remember in which episode). This seems to be foreshadowing something--I’m guessing the discovery of Jacques’ pirate ship that’s mentioned in another episode--but they never visit the caves, unless that’s where the Temple of the Serpent is located.

Back on the main island, Jean Paul has returned, but Vangie has left to go somewhere. Jean Paul says that she is probably packing a few days’ clothing for her stay on his island. Elizabeth is relieved to hear that she will only be there a few days. She also reveals that she sees Vangie as "competition" for Jean Paul's affections. (LOL) I would say that she is deluding herself, but then, she is unaware that Jean Paul was possessed all the times that he flirted with her; in her mind, Jacques is the real Jean Paul and the Jean Paul who mourns Erica is “not himself.” It does explain, however, why she was clinging to him in that one scene from last episode. Even so, Vangie never has any love interests on the show. I’ve suspected for a while that she and Raxl secretly have a thing for each other. Obviously they wouldn’t have shown that on TV in 1969, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t still ship them together.[1]

Elizabeth’s profession of interest in him motivates Jacques to possess him again, and we get

HEADACHE FACES! Yay!

After possessing him, Jacques reassures Elizabeth that he is very much still interested in her (Elizabeth, I mean, not Vangie). He also sends the audience more false hopes for Holly's death: "I'd stake Jean Paul Desmond's life, virtually every day…What’s one life, more or less? It doesn't even matter whose life. Take your daughter for example, before she's twenty-one and inherits all those millions."

Elizabeth looks appalled by this suggestion, but it’s hard to say if she truly is or if it’s all an act. I’m sure, though, that this is, roughly, the thought process going through Jacques’ mind:

Coming up next: Jean Paul and Vangie make more arrangements for the séance to contact Erica and Raxl reveals more of Maljardin’s history.

{ <- Previous: Episode 30 || Next: Episode 32 -> }

Notes

[1] In the books, Quito is Raxl’s husband, but that obviously isn’t the case on the show, or else she would most likely be jealous of his affections for Holly. The fact that she isn’t suggests that the two aren’t married (or, at the very least, aren’t married anymore) in the show canon. This means that Raxl doesn’t have a canonical love interest.

#strange paradise #maljardin arc #ian martin #week 7 #episode 31 #review #analysis #bissits face #comics #cryonics capsule #headache faces #makeup #raxl/vangie #SCENE INTERRUPTING DAN #speculation on ian martin's original story #tarasca

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multiverseforger · 4 years ago

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Following the universe-altering events of Crisis on Infinite Earths (concluding in March 1986), the Black Canary's history was revised again. The mind-transplant story of 1983 was discarded; in this version of the story, the present-day Black Canary is Dinah Laurel Lance, who inherits the identity from her mother, Dinah Drake-Lance. Although some references (for example, those in James Robinson's Starman series) tried to distinguish between the two Canaries by calling the first "Diana", recent accounts have confirmed Dinah as the mother's given name.

The two Canaries' origin stories were told in full in Secret Origins (vol. 2) #50 (August 1990). In this story, Dinah Drake is trained by her father, detective Richard Drake, intending to follow him on the Gotham City police force. When she is turned down, her disillusioned father dies shortly afterwards. Determined to honor his memory, Dinah fights crime and corruption by any possible means. She becomes a costumed vigilante, using her inheritance to open a flower shop as her day job.[6] Dinah marries her lover, private eye Larry Lance, and several years later their daughter, Dinah Laurel Lance, is born (Birds of Prey #66 (June 2004) would establish that they took the name "Laurel" from a librarian Dinah befriended during a case).[7]

The New 52 amalgamated versionEdit

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Dinah Drake is Black Canary (she later marries Kurt Lance).[8] Dinah founds the Birds of Prey and recruits the team, beginning with her friend Ev Crawford, known as Starling. Eventually Katana and Poison Ivy join the team. Initially reluctant to join, Batgirl becomes a regular addition to the cast by issue #4 of the series.[9] Dinah joins Team 7 in a flashback [10] and is drafted into the Justice League to assist in the "Throne of Atlantis" crossover, after which she remains a reserve member.[11]

Post-Flashpoint, Dinah Drake was born the child of a teenaged single mother, handed into foster care at the age of 4. Considered a troublemaker, she moved from foster home to foster home and finally ran away at the age of 10. Taking to the streets of Gotham, she was caught dumpster-diving by Desmond Lamar, an ex-Special Forces agent and martial arts sensei, who took her in and offered her a job to clean his dojo after classes. In return, he would provide her with food and a safe place to sleep. At her request, Lamar took to teaching her the same skills he provided his students, and she became his regular. When Lamar contracted fatal brain cancer, he left her his dojo. Unfortunately, he was the only one who could keep the local gangs from getting protection money out of them. Dinah's martial arts prowess could only keep them at bay for so long. Eventually, she began losing students who feared the possibility of their retaliation. Flashbacks show that during Zero Year, Dinah's dojo was destroyed in a fire. It was at this point, John Lynch, impressed by her martial arts prowess in taking down several ninjas during an attack, recruited her into Team 7.[12][13]

During her tenure with Team 7, Dinah works as a covert ops agent in charge of infiltration.[14] She is given the codename Operative Canary. It is during this time that Dinah secretly marries her longtime partner, Kurt Lance. Her powers are subsequently awakened after being tested metagene-positive.[15] Toward the end of the Team 7 run, during a mission to retrieve Pandora's Box, Dinah's sonic scream surfaces and are amplified by Kurt's, the after-effect of which ultimately destroyed the island of Gamorra. In the aftermath, Kurt is presumed dead, and Team 7 is mothballed, leaving Dinah a fugitive on the run from authorities and an outlaw codenaming herself the Black Canary.[16]

After Team 7, the Black Canary continues freelance covert operations, hunting the terrorist network known as Basilisk,[17] and later attempts to form a team recruiting the Starling, Katana, Poison Ivy, and later Batgirl. The team is ambushed by treachery from Poison Ivy[18] and eventually the Starling,[19] pressuring Dinah to question her leadership. As the team roster progresses and evolves following the departure of Katana[20] to include Strix and the Condor, Dinah's questioning reaches its peak to erupt trust issues and notably with Batgirl when she discovers her powers are being manipulated by an apparently alive Kurt Lance.[21]

Throughout her missions with the Birds, Dinah encounters and protects an elderly woman, Miss Ettie, later revealed to be known as Mother Eve, a centuries-old woman hunted by Ra's al Ghul for her immortality which takes place in the form of her metamorphosis into her youth after every life. She claims that in nearly every life, she was a mother and outlived her children, some of whom have developed unique abilities genetically, and believes that Dinah might have gained her abilities through a genetic link to her.[22]

When Dinah's husband Kurt is found to have no memory of his past life with her, and she realizes Amanda Waller is involved, she summons Waller to find answers during a mission against the Suicide Squad.[23] Confronting Waller, she is informed that Kurt was revived by a Samsara Serum, and the resurrection process damaged his memory. With the truth of Dinah's past and her setting up of this meeting with Waller shared with the Birds, Batgirl confronts Dinah on her leadership and angrily disapproves of Dinah's actions in keeping it from the team. As a result, the Birds of Prey part ways.[24]

After a long rift, Dinah returns to apologize to Barbara and is forced to move in with her when her dojo is burned down (which was partially Barbara's fault).[25] It is later revealed that Dinah has become the lead singer of a band called Ashes on Sunday.[26]The Black Canary's appearances on Batgirl lead to the spin-off Black Canary, which focuses on Dinah's attempts to balance a musical career with the frenzied life she leads as a vigilante. After her stint with Ashes on Sunday, Dinah received an offer from A&B Records for an album and go on tour [27] and joins a rock band she named Black Canary.[28] As the lead singer of Black Canary, Dinah attempts to leave her past life behind and takes to the stage name D.D., joining the likes of drummer Lord Byron, keyboardist Paloma Terrific and mute guitarist Ditto, all of whom are accompanied by the band's tour manager, Heathcliff Ray. However, when her friends' lives are threatened, Dinah dedicates herself to training them in battle.[29] Over the course of the title, Dinah learns more about her powers, which derive from an alien girl named Ditto, and finds that the frontwoman she replaced, Maeve, has been given identical powers by a criminal syndicate. The series ends with issue

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eponymous-rose · 6 years ago

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The Briarwood Arc: A Summary (with timestamps!)

With all the excitement over CR’s new Kickstarter stretch goals including an animated series covering the first campaign’s Briarwood Arc, I thought it might be handy to have a little reference for folks wanting to jump in at this point (which, as it happens, is a great jumping-in point for the first campaign). This arc is a fan-favorite because it really marks the starting point of a lot of the more serious character development in the show, while setting the standard for bringing a character’s backstory front-and-center into the main plotline. It also happens to contain a ton of especially cinematic moments.

If you just want to jump in now, the Briarwood Arc is generally considered to be episodes 24-36 of the first campaign. Be aware that earlier episodes contain the chat (often a bastion of complaints; a strategically placed post-it note on the screen goes a long way) and also a player who leaves the show permanently after episode 27 (more info here). While there are good moments and context provided earlier on, it actually works just fine to jump in on episode 28 as the start of the arc.

If you’d like a summary of the arc, complete with timestamped links to key moments, read on!

The Briarwood Arc is tied in with the backstory of Taliesin Jaffe’s character, named (deep breath) Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III.

Before meeting up with Vox Machina, Percy spent most of his time inventing and tinkering. One night, the de Rolos took Lord Sylas and Lady Delilah Briarwood in at their castle in Whitestone, invited them to stay for dinner... and the Briarwoods promptly started killing everyone, with the help of some of those inside the castle. Percy’s younger sister Cassandra helped him escape the attack, but she was shot down in a hail of arrows, and Percy barely survived by jumping into a freezing river. Not long after that, Percy started having dreams where a cloud of black smoke demanded vengeance... at which point he promptly woke up and started designing his first gun.

He’s been traveling with the rest of the group for some time now, studiously ignoring what’s been going on in the north and mostly trying to keep a low profile.

Things start taking a turn when, in episode 14, the party has a meeting with Sovereign Uriel Tal’Dorei, one of their most powerful political allies. Uriel casually mentions the Briarwoods’ names in passing (1:02:49). Percy manages to rally from that moment of shock and takes Uriel aside to fish for more details (1:25:28); he requests that any further information about the Briarwoods be sent his way.

Radio silence ensues until the party returns to Emon in episode 23, when Seeker Asum Emring (Uriel’s spymaster) approaches Percy to let him know the Briarwoods are coming to town in a week for a feast in their honor, celebrating the opening of a new trade route with the northeast (3:04:45). Asum’s clever enough (and has by now had enough northbound spies “mysteriously retire”) to be suspicious of the Briarwoods and is determined to keep an eye on them.

The start of episode 24 has the party finally talking about all this as a group; Percy explains his past history with the Briarwoods (0:20:48), and reveals that his Pepperbox revolver has names scrawled across five of the six barrels: the Briarwoods, plus three individuals who’d helped them in their slaughter. He mentions that he’d already tried to confront one of the three, Dr. Anna Ripley, but that her guards threw him into prison before he could even get close enough to see her face, which is how he wound up in the jail cell where the party first met him. Vox Machina pledge their support (0:28:47) to a tearful Percy, and start preparing for this unknown confrontation with the Briarwoods.

The plan (such as it is) is to have Scanlan turn Vax invisible during the feast, so he can do some snooping around. Percy will enter the feast disguised as Vax, just in case he gets put in a position to be recognized. They’ll play it by ear from there, following Percy’s lead.

The party runs into Asum at the main gates, and he instantly sees through Percy’s disguise when he doesn’t quite manage an imitation of Vax’s voice. (2:49:30) Asum mentions that Vax should meet him in the foyer while the feast’s underway to help him out with his reconnaissance.

Vox Machina watch as the Briarwoods make their appearance (2:59:10); they seem extremely self-possessed and charming, and a very tense dinner ensues. In the suspense, Vax completely forgets about going to reconnoiter with Asum, and then decides to follow the Briarwoods to their room at the end of the night to see what he can find out (3:39:00). After dispatching their guards, he opens the door to their chamber... only to see both of them looking directly at him. (3:43:10).

Episode 25 picks up after that cliffhanger, with an increasingly desperate Vax trying to talk his way out of the room (0:14:00). Sylas reveals himself to be a vampire, and he and Delilah attack. Vax manages to jump out a window and yell a warning to the rest of the group through the Earring of Whisper, but soon finds himself bleeding out alone at the Briarwoods’ feet (0:39:15). The rest of the party arrives in the courtyard just in the nick of time (complete with a legendary couple of rolls from Vex - 0:58:48) to rescue Vax from the brink of death, and to pull a baffled Asum out of the effects of a charm spell. In the battle, Vex is nearly killed in one shot by a particularly powerful spell from Delilah.

During the confrontation, the Briarwoods recognize Percy (1:16:38). They attempt to flee via carriage, then successfully flee via magic, but invite Percy and the rest of the party to join them in Whitestone, casually mentioning that it would be nice for him to visit his family once in a while (1:52:50).

Frustrated by the Briarwoods’ departure, Percy brutally interrogates the Briarwoods’ carriage driver, a terrified young man named Desmond (1:55:10). The party decides to lock Desmond up in their keep, mainly for his own protection. On a little side venture to help out Lillith, an ally who emerged unexpectedly during the fight, Percy snaps and completely annihilates a baddie (3:06:15), which understandably worries the group even more.

Unfortunately, after this big Percy-centric episode, Taliesin unfortunately is too ill to participate in episode 26, and Percy spends it working feverishly in his laboratory. For the rest of Vox Machina, the order of the day is having to explain to Uriel Tal’Dorei why they attacked important allies out of nowhere, which doesn’t go over super well (0:39:31). Asum reveals to the group that he’s keeping an eye on things and is trying to act like he’s still under the Briarwoods’ charm. In a frustrated attempt to improve their image by helping out some farmers, shit gets a little weird for Vox Machina (2:34:38).

Episode 27 opens with Percy waking up from a horrific nightmare about his family being slaughtered... that promptly takes form when he goes to check on Desmond and finds him being strangled by an invisible presence in the cells (0:17:07). Luckily, with Trinket’s help (and the rest of Vox Machina returning home at an opportune time), Desmond is saved and the ghostly presence is defeated, but it’s clear that there’s only one way forward: the party starts on the road to Whitestone.

In episode 28, after battling a behir along the way, the party arrives in Whitestone and cautiously scopes it out to find a city composed of an exhausted, downtrodden populace working in fear of the “new nobles” (1:39:00), with zombified giants patrolling the streets. The party’s plan right now centers around the city’s central symbol of hope: if they can bring the Sun Tree, a holy tree to the sun god Pelor in the town square, back to its earlier splendor, they hope to be able to thwart this vampiric assault on the city.

Unfortunately, as they get closer, they realize the Sun Tree has become a gallows. And the bodies are a very specific message. (2:39:13)

From an underground hideout, Keyleth uses her druidic abilities to attempt to commune with the Sun Tree, but discovers that it is, in fact, dead (2:54:05). Welcome to Whitestone.

Episode 29 starts with Keyleth attempting to resurrect the Sun Tree (and Travis and Laura battling traffic to get to the show), while Percy, Scanlan, and Vax check out a temple Percy remembers from his youth, the Zenith (0:26:27). This is the start of Vox Machina’s epic battle against doors, as it takes the three of them multiple spells and half an hour in real time to defeat... an unlocked door.

Once inside, they find the remains of Father Reynal and square off with a banshee that nearly kills Percy twice before Scanlan manages to finish it off (1:07:45). They discover that this temple has become a laboratory for someone who lost their hand attempting to replicate Percy’s firearm technology. At Percy’s request, Vax carves the de Rolo family crest into the altar, along with “Pelor lives in Whitestone”.

The party reconvenes and decides on the next course of action: attacking one of the “new nobles” of the town, one of the names on Percy’s List. Kerrion Stonefell. The party spends the night in their underground hideout, and Percy emphatically Does Not sleep well (1:29:45).

Before scoping out Stonefell’s mansion, the party decides to sow some seeds of rebellion in the city and chats with Keeper Yennen, a religious leader in the city, at his temple, the Lady’s Chamber. Percy doesn’t outright reveal his identity (the party’s been proceeding in disguise), but makes ambiguous statements that pique Yennen’s interest (2:04:30).

The party proceeds to Stonefell’s mansion and manages to infiltrate completely successfully, surprising Stonefell and launching into a vicious battle with perfect timing before he can set up his defenses (2:31:40). When Stonefell sees Percy’s weapon, he’s immediately confused and utters, “Ripley?”, revealing her to be the one who has been experimenting on Percy’s technology. Throughout the battle, dark smoke begins pouring from Percy’s body, and things get decidedly creepy as he dons a bird-faced mask to make the final blow on Stonefell (3:21:55). He promptly huddles in a corner of the room and tries to carve Stonefell’s name off his Pepperbox.

Meanwhile, the rest of the party brings around Vouk, Stonefell’s lieutenant. They try to get some information from him, and Vouk offers to take them to the Briarwoods’ “project room” below the castle in exchange for his life, which they decide isn’t very valuable information and is more likely a trap. Percy, coming out of his stupor as he discovers that Stonefell’s name has actually vanished from his gun, decides it’s best to set Vouk free, on the condition that he is marked and his tongue taken. Grog is only too happy to oblige, and Percy brands him with his gun (3:45:17). Grog and Scanlan are on board with this violence. The half-elves (Keyleth and the twins) are getting increasingly unnerved. The party carries the survivors out of the building, and Keyleth lights the mansion on fire once they’re out.

Episode 30 (which features everyone’s Halloween costumes) begins with a much-needed heart-to-heart among Vox Machina in their underground hideout about the nature of morality and trust (0:16:30). Their sleep that night is interrupted by a vampire attack that is in part thwarted by... Scanlan pissing on one, because running water (1:00:45). Even after the party relocates away from directly under the Sun Tree for the rest of the night, Percy has another restless night’s sleep, awakening with an even more heightened sense of corruption and sadism (1:31:08).

The party meets up with Jordana Whisk, the daughter of Simon, an enchanter Percy once knew who’s now working in the castle for the Briarwoods. They reveal that Percy is alive, although he can’t drop his illusion in front of her; she gives them some supplies and recommends they return to the Lady’s Chamber to speak further with Keeper Yennen. They do so, and wind up in a private conversation with Yennen and Percy’s father’s former chancellor, Archibald Desnay.

In front of these two allies, Percy finally reveals his true identity (2:35:20). But there’s another bombshell ready to drop: Archibald reveals that Percy’s sister Cassandra is alive, and has been secretly helping with the rebellion from her seat in the castle.

The party splits up past this point; there are three more nobles’ mansions remaining, so the party sends Scanlan alone to one to create a distraction while they attack another, leaving the fourth mansion for last. Scanlan... promptly turns into a triceratops (2:58:45).

Episode 31 opens with a truly epic segment in which Scanlan, working alone, just... annihilates the mansion through an increasingly bizarre sequence of events (0:14:55). It’s a glorious and surreal half-hour that culminates with the goliath Duke Goran Vedmire, one of the Briarwoods’ allies, getting thrown off a flaming rooftop in the middle of a thunderstorm. As you do.

The rest of Vox Machina, meanwhile, attacks Count Tylieri’s mansion, and discover the Count to be a vampire. Not to be outdone, Trinket rips off his head in the battle that ensues (1:32:00). The party starts interrogating a surviving guard, but when they discover that these guards were responsible for killing the people strung up on the Sun Tree, including a child, Vax slits his throat (2:07:55). Vex, meanwhile, confronts Percy, who still has smoke swirling around his ankles (2:11:32).

Once again, Keyleth burns down the mansion, and as the party reunites, they find people rising up in the streets, townsfolk beginning to hack down the zombie giants. This, it seems, is a point of no return: the rebellion has begun. Vox Machina make their way to the Sun Tree, where they find that the bodies have been cut down. In the midst of the storm, though, they see dozens, hundreds of skeletons approaching; the Briarwoods’ answer to the nascent rebellion (0:49:47).

Episode 32 opens with the unexpected return of a friend in spectral form: Pike crashes into the battle and starts annihilating skeletons (0:24:55), doing what a cleric does best. The party then splits into two groups to help the townsfolk deal with the remaining zombie giants. These dispatched, they regroup and learn that Pike’s been having visions of Whitestone, particularly of Percy; thanks to her goddess Sarenrae’s aid, she’s been sent in this spectral form to assist the party.

Heartened by the return of their friend, the party starts toward the castle itself. They find the hidden passage Percy and Cassandra used to escape during the attack and start in toward the castle. Very conscious of her friends’ concerns, alongside her own, Pike casts a restoration spell on Percy, who isn’t completely recovered, but seems a little less shaky (2:32:30).

Resting for the night in the tunnel, Percy and Vax have a heart-to-heart (2:42:45). Percy dreams again that night, this time hearing an ominous voice: “Don’t forget our deal.” (2:47:10)

Moving ahead the next day, the party emerges into the castle’s dungeons, where they find an old woman locked in a cell. After some awkward questioning, the group decides it’s probably best to come back for her later. At the old woman’s insistence, Vex pretends to try to pick the lock, and when she messes it up, the woman grabs her with both hands... except she doesn’t, because one of her hands is an illusion (3:32:40). Vex remembers that Anna Ripley lost a hand trying to reproduce Percy’s technology.

Coming off that realization, episode 33 begins with Vex revealing what she just figured out to the party (0:14:55). Keyleth dispels the woman’s illusion, revealing Anna Ripley, who immediately wants to join the party in taking the Briarwoods down. She explains that she helped the Briarwoods kill the de Rolos and seize power five years ago, but was just brought in to help out with some sort of mysterious construction project under the castle. When the work was finished, she claims, the Briarwoods were finished with her and locked her up to languish in the cell. Percy, bolstered by magical means, convinces her to lead them to Cassandra and further demands that she tell them how to find Professor Anders, his former teacher who turned on the family in the attack (Anders, Ripley, and the Briarwoods are the remaining names on the barrels of Percy’s gun).

When Percy reveals his identity to her, Ripley is frightened, but also unabashedly delighted (0:31:45). Unfortunately, around this time, Pike’s astral form dissipates.

The party, shaken and uneasy, allows Ripley to lead them to her chambers to get some of her things. Ripley reveals her latest project: a firearm she’s created based on Percy’s designs, working based off secondhand accounts. The party confiscates that, as well as a few potions, but lets her keep her armor in case of trouble.

They continue on to Cassandra’s chambers, where they find correspondence with Archibald Desnay about the ins and outs of several failed rebellion attempts. Percy starts to get impatient that they still haven’t found Cassandra (1:06:30). Ripley reveals a little more information: the Briarwoods have been working on some sort of distillery, used to melt down and focus the eponymous whitestone found in the region into “residuum”, which has powerful magical properties. The Briarwoods are using this residuum to do something with an old Ziggurat located beneath the castle, but she knows nothing more about that side of it beyond that it involves some third party. She hazards a guess that the Ziggurat is located right underneath the Sun Tree itself.

When the party expresses an interest in skipping over Anders and going straight for the Briarwoods, Ripley starts baiting Percy, reminding him that Anders was his sister’s keeper, and convinces him to go after Anders instead (1:11:55). Vex, frustrated and keeping an arrow nocked at Ripley’s throat, tells Vax to sneak ahead and check out the study.

As Vax gets close to the study, he sees a frantic-looking Anders holding a knife to Cassandra’s throat. As Vax jumps in to intervene, Cassandra calls out that it’s a trap (1:19:46). Anders promptly slits her throat. The rest of the party hastens to catch up, with Vex tasking Trinket to hang on to Ripley. Keyleth heals a very confused Cassandra (a detail the party misses: when Cassandra is healed, there’s suddenly no more blood on her skin or clothing). Grog gets caught in a Dominate Person spell and is ordered to kill Vax, which he nearly succeeds in doing; a couple more hits from magically animated suits of armor take Vax near to death, but Keyleth and Vex bring him back from the brink.

Meanwhile, Percy, bird-shaped mask concealing his face, wreathed once again in black smoke, confronts Anders (2:00:00). It does not end well for the professor. Anders’ name flares and vanishes from the barrel of Percy’s gun. Vex grabs Percy by the hand and tells him to take off the mask (2:09:15).

When the last enemies are dispatched, the party realizes that Ripley’s making an escape; Grog, Scanlan, and Trinket nearly catch up with her, but she uses magic to evade capture and disappears. A badly shaken Vax approaches Keyleth: “You know I’m in love with you, right?” (0:04:00)

Percy castigates and then thanks Vax for his rash action, then turns to Cassandra for the first time in five years. “...hi.” (0:17:57) Cassandra reveals that the Briarwoods took her in after the arrows felled her, healed her, and set her up as a caged figurehead in the castle to earn them legitimacy. They talk about the Briarwoods’ plans, and Cassandra insists that she’ll be accompanying the group, wearing her mother’s armor, especially since she’s been working against the Briarwoods by aiding rebellions for so long. She and Percy have a great little sibling moment (0:21:30). On their way down into the cellars of the castle, Cassandra reveals that Delilah isn’t a vampire like Sylas, but is instead an extremely powerful human necromancer. The two of them speak frequently of this third party, “The Whispered One”.

The party fights spirits of the de Rolo’s ancestors on their way down; one ghost comes very close to killing Percy outright. Scanlan heals him, then literally mocks the ghost to death... again. (1:59:30)

Episode 34 has the party at a crossroads, with one path leading toward the acid pits used in the residuum distillation process (Pike has also returned, in spectral form). The party finds a bronze room with several small gemstones built into the floor. After some experimentation, with each member of the party touching a gemstone, Cassandra finds a gemstone next to a door nearby and touches it... and two large walls of green glass slam down, trapping Vox Machina in the room.

Behind Cassandra, the Briarwoods walk through the door. Vax immediately notices a placard behind them and uses his magical cloak to teleport to it, slamming one hand on the button. The Briarwoods are amused as the button, horrifically, causes acid to be pumped into the room containing the rest of Vox Machina... (1:19:14). Lord Briarwood promptly uses charm magic to pull Vax to their side, and they bring him with them as they leave Vox Machina to be dissolved.

And Cassandra? Cassandra confronts Percy through the glass: “Your sister left us the day those arrows found my chest. She did not die from those wounds, but to watch you leave me there in the snow. I have a new family. I am a Briarwood, and I have a destiny with the Whispered One.” (1:26:40)

Once Vox Machina have been left alone, Pike notices that the acid melts whitestone, and that the ceiling of this room is made of whitestone. Using a flying potion confiscated from Ripley, Vex manages to turn the tubes delivering the acid so they burn an escape route into the ceiling.

As the party begins to trail after the Briarwoods, Cassandra, and Vax, Percy realizes that there’s a new name on the previously blank barrel of his gun: Cassandra de Rolo. (2:07:42)

The party manages to surprise the Briarwoods on the stairs leading up to the top of the ziggurat, and the fight begins in earnest. In the fray, Vax manages to break out of the charm spell, and while Cassandra begins the fight on the Briarwoods’ side, she eventually drops her sword, torn and uncertain. Keyleth nearly annihilates Sylas with a couple of well-placed Sunbeam spells, and Scanlan thwarts Delilah’s attempt to teleport him to safety with a Counterspell.

Percy manages to shoot Delilah, but Cassandra runs to her with a healing potion. Keyleth and Pike take that moment to destroy Sylas Briarwood once and for all. (3:44:46)

Delilah is devastated. “You can’t... I broke the world for us! No...” (3:47:11) She uses short-range teleportation to get out of the immediate line of fire. Vax and Grog knock out Cassandra and tie her up, to confront later.

Still able to fly thanks to the potion she took earlier, Vex gets a bird’s-eye view of the inside of the ziggurat: a room with the shape of a hand carved into the floor. Delilah’s standing at the center of it, reading some sort of scroll.

The party jumps into action, taking shots at Delilah from the top of the wall into the room, but she’s focused on her spell and splashes some of her own blood on a black orb in the center of the room.

The orb starts to spin. (4:04:30) All around Delilah, the walls are covered in a tapestry of hundreds of dead bodies, each missing their left hand and/or left eye, and they begin to writhe.

Vex, still flying, dives down to try to get the orb out of there. Delilah turns and casts the same spell on her she did back in episode 25: Finger of Death. (4:13:49) Vex comes within 1 HP of being permanently killed by the spell.

Delilah turns back to the orb, which spins faster and faster... and suddenly flashes, in an instant, down to the size of a dime. Her terrified anticipation turns to horror. “It can’t be too soon.”

The writhing walls stop. In fact, all magic within the ziggurat stops... including Vex’s flying spell. (4:16:40) She hits the ground with enough force to knock her out, and it takes the frantic party a moment to realize that they can’t heal her with magic, and she’s now bleeding out. Percy shoots Delilah, but manages not to kill her outright, instead shooting off her arm. Fortunately, Vex stabilizes on her own.

A terrified Vax stays with his sister while the rest of the party drags the unconscious Lady Briarwood away. Keyleth stays behind, experimentally poking a piece of residuum glass into the orb... and promptly takes a massive amount of damage and is nearly sucked into it (4:33:21). Vax realizes she stayed behind and runs back toward her... but she recognizes that her initial plan of collapsing the ziggurat isn’t going to work if she can’t use magic. The party flees.

Episode 35 starts with Vex being revived and healed outside the antimagic effect of the orb. A dazed, exhausted, and overwhelmed Cassandra explains her part in all this: the Briarwoods didn’t just keep her around for legitimacy, they kept her around to find out about and quash rebellions like the ones that Archibald attempted. (0:40:38) She finally makes eye contact with Percy, realizing that even with the (magically and non-magically) charming influence of the Briarwoods and her fury and fear at how Percy left her for dead, her family deserves to be avenged.

The familiar black smoke begins to billow out of Percy’s sleeves, and the smoke entity that’s been speaking to him begins demanding revenge. (0:41:30) Percy points the gun at Lady Briarwood’s head and demands that the entity take Cassandra’s name off the gun. “Did I even want revenge before I talked to you?”

The party’s very unnerved by this entire conversation, especially considering they can only hear Percy’s side of it and they see him occasionally putting the gun to his own head. Percy fires the gun at Lady Briarwood’s hand, revealing that the gun was broken in the fight. “I’m not satisfied. I want my money back.” The entity tries something, but Percy shrugs it off.

Lady Briarwood regains consciousness and Percy demands answers, creating the illusion of Sylas’ death to torment her (0:46:00). Delilah, boiling with fury, just mutters that the Whispered One gave her Sylas back, and Percy took him from her again. The group knocks her out again.

Pike and Scanlan recall some information about the Whispered One: it’s a phrase used to refer to the name “Vecna”, a powerful archlich, who once, hundreds and hundreds of years ago, tried to ascend to godhood and was halted in that process.

As the conversation continues, Percy begins to reach for his rifle, but pushes away the urge, and actually manages to expel the strange smoke creature from his body (0:59:19). The party very literally battles Percy’s demon, and Grog and Trinket manage to destroy it (2:02:05). A little remnant of darkness remains in Percy, but the creature is destroyed.

Percy defers to Cassandra when it comes to executing Delilah (2:03:50). Cassandra stabs her. “You took them away from me. And now we’re taking everything away from you.”

The party walks back past the acid pits. As they do, Scanlan uses magic to convince Percy to hand him his gun, the Pepperbox, and promptly throws it into the acid (0:05:26). That last little nugget of darkness in Percy’s chest vanishes as the gun is melted. Percy is somewhat more alarmed at how expensive the gun will be to replace.

Vox Machina emerge back into the city of Whitestone, where the townsfolk have gathered up the last of the Briarwoods’ powerful allies (minus Ripley, who is nowhere to be seen). Grog executes a Countess Jazna Grebin, but Vedmire (who survived his fall off the building) is kept alive, in keeping with Percy’s determination that Whitestone is now a city of mercy. Vox Machina also discreetly let some people know about the horrific scene below the castle, and start gathering people to study the orb and its antimagic effects.

Keyleth goes to check on the Sun Tree, and determines that the tree isn’t so much dead as dormant, and is now starting to awaken again. Vax finds her there, and after some awkwardness (mostly out-of-character flailing by the rest of the group), tells her that he’ll give her all the time she needs to process his confession: “If you’ll have me, I’m yours.” (0:59:14)

The sun finally sets on a clear night in Whitestone, and the rebuilding begins. (1:05:34)

(Episode 36, you ask? Episode 36 is Whitestone celebrating its first Winter’s Crest Festival in a very, very long time.)

#critical role #critical role spoilers #long text post

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south-flying-sparrow-archive · 5 years ago

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I kinda want to preserve how much I liked phase 1 of the skulduggery books so I don't want to read the new ones, could you please give a rundown of the bad wlw representation in the new books? (If you've already done that please redirect me)

i don't think i, personally have, but if anyone else has then links would be appreciated!

phase one: val shows what could be attraction to women, and there are lots of possible female love interest. china sorrows fucks to survive, tanith is confirmed bi and had a thing with aurora. one of the last two should have had a gf.

phase two, resurrection: militsa is introduced, a flat, 2d character who's omen's teacher and has very little personality. massive val cain fangirl and very annoying.

midnight: one (1) scene of flirting. val calls militsa gorgeous in a scene. never spoken of again.

bedlam: a note: i'm not tagging this as spoilers because it doesn't include major ones, the book has been out for months, and my previous points stand even if you haven't read bedlam yet. proceed with caution.

bedlam, in its clusterfucking glory, starts off in chapter one with val flirting her way out of a situation. val in phase one didn't flirt. she fucked up and she cheated on her boyfriend and was an idiot. she was smooth and clean and slipped in that she had a girlfriend.

(my gay heart when i read that: AGHHHH)

militsa is the gf. no development. out of nowhere. petnames, cutesy uwu ickle wickle baby val? calling each other sweetie and petal and shit she would call alice? ew. smooth flirting. militsa, by the way, is still 2d as all hell and has no character.

AND, val was worried about her parents being homophobic. big drama over that when her parents fucking. found out that she was in a dangerous world and were ready to throw hands for her. and to appeal to us with homophobic/non-accepting families, val shits herself worries because her parents are apparently going to kick her ass?

desmond says he always hoped she'd be a lesbian. the fuck, landy.

#skulduggery pleasant #valkyrie cain #militsa gnosis #bi barrel of barf

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teecupangel · 11 months ago

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I know there's been a lot of stuff about the Assassins getting sent into the past, but what if they all got yeeted into the far off future? Yes, Desmond too. Imagine all of them suddenly finding themselves in Cyberpunk or something like that. Desmond might have the best luck at processing everything, but the rest? Oh boy...

That or Desmond in Cyberpunk with the assassins as engrams, which might be easier. It'd be pretty funny if they were all corporeal as well though

I was wondering if this was meant to be a general cyberpunk setting or if you meant Cyberpunk 2077 but then I read the engrams part and I’m gonna assume you meant a Cyberpunk 2077 AU.

You know what would be fun?

If this was a ‘failed’ attempt to resurrect Desmond.

We’ll set it in a highly advanced city ala Night City but not exactly Night City because we want our city to be under the control of Abstergo. We’re going for full cyberpunk dystopia here with Abstergo ruling the city in a mix of Cyberpunk 2077 + watch_dog Legion.

The city itself is kept under heavy guard so escape is high nigh impossible.

To twist the knife on the wound, the name of the city is New Monteriggioni.

That’s right. Abstergo has taken over Monteriggioni and has turned it into a bustling city.

And a high tech prison.

Now, we can go for either the ‘crimes and illegal activities are around the corner if you know where to look’ setup like Cyberpunk or the “the people have been indoctrinated by Templar propaganda” dystopia like in Captain Laserhawk, pick your poison.

The main point is that Desmond and the other Assassins wake up underneath Monteriggioni, in the Auditore crypt.

It’s no longer a crypt, though.

It’s been transformed into some kind of lab and workshop rolled into one.

And the first ones to wake up are Altaïr, Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton.

They wake up sitting on chairs that looked like a new version of the Animus, with the headset slowly sliding off. They are all sitting around an empty space with the Assassin insignia carved on the floor. Behind them are more chairs with other people seemingly sleeping while sitting with the headset covering half their faces.

The moment the headset completely slides off, a hologram appeared in the middle, showing an old man wearing white.

The man introduced himself as Elijah (no last name), a ‘benefactor’ of the Assassins. He gives them a brief background of the current situation:

The city is under Templar control, calling themselves Abstergo

Centuries have passed since their death

Their consciousness is based on the recovered DNA from their remains or something that held their DNA. The DNA sample was incomplete due to the age so Sample 17 and the data compiled by the Assassins were used to complete them so that each one of them would have memories up to their death.

Their bodies are called ‘dolls’ but they have been upgraded as well with an assistance module to help them understand the world around them without overloading their new ‘brain’. This assistance module shows up as a UI that only they can see with an access to the Brotherhood’s digital library (called a database) that can show them information if they request it using their mind.

“The Assassins have lost.” The hologram stated as he slowly paced around, waving his hand towards their direction as he continued, “This is their final Hail Mary.”

Their assistance module shows the info of what Hail Mary means in this context while the hologram stopped in the middle of the room, “They made a deal with me. In exchange for bringing you back, I was given complete control over the Brotherhood.”

“The three of you are the first ones to be awakened.” The old man stopped for a moment before correcting himself, “No. You will be the only ones to awaken. There’s no longer enough energy left in this place to wake the others.”

“That will be your mission.” The old man continued, “The assistance module will explain in details what kind of energy is necessary and where you can find it.”

“Your priority though…” The old man stepped to the side and another hologram appeared, showing a young man sleeping in some kind of… sarcophagus with a glass top?

“This is Desmond Miles.”

Ezio froze.

“At least…” The old man placed a hand on the glass, “This is Desmond Miles’ body, recreated by the Templars to control the city. This city’s security system is powered by POEs in different Abstergo facilities. Abstergo uses this body to control those POEs continuously.”

The hologram of Desmond disappears and the old man walked further to the side as the circle around the Assassin insignia on the floor slid open.

Another chair slowly ascended until it replaced the open hole left by the insignia as the old man continued, “Even if you get the energy and installed it here, they will not wake until this facility comes under Desmond Miles’ control. This is… my final security protocol.”

He stared at the chair as he continued, “Steal the body Abstergo is using and place it on that chair. That chair will upload all of Desmond Miles’ memories.”

“Only then will you be able to wake the others.”

He turned to face the Assassins once more as he said, “Once Desmond Miles has all his memories, he will know what to do.”

“Good luck.”

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leonbloder · 4 years ago

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The Question That Never Goes Away

The latest mass shooting that our country experienced this past week was yet another wearying and disheartening chapter for us in what has been a very long, sad story of violence and heartbreak.

Since the terrible tragedy of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting in 2012 that took the lives of 20 little children along with six of their teachers, there have been 2,654 mass shootings (when three or more people are shot and or killed) in the United States.

2,654 mass shootings... 2,908 people dead. 11,088 wounded. It's like not only did we not learn from the horrific tragedy at Sandy Hook---we seemed to have doubled down.

When you start pondering these things, it's hard to believe that Evil isn't winning.

I've been re-reading Philip Yancey's book The Question That Never Goes Away over the past several weeks. The question that Yancey is referring to is simply this, "Where is God when it hurts?"

More specifically, Yancey seeks to address the doubts that we all feel in the face of senseless violence, soul-shaking tragedy, and seasons of terrible uncertainty and fear.

In other words, the moments when we wonder if Evil is truly getting the upper hand, and it feels like God is nowhere in sight.

One of the points that Yancey makes is that there is often a difference between those who observe suffering and those who experience it.

What he's come to believe is that for people who go through hell on earth it's harder to reject the notion of God than if they simply are on the outside looking in.

Theologian Miroslav Volf once wrote that many of us who experience tragedy more often than not want to cling to God for our "solace and our agony." Some cling to feel peace, and some cling desperately seeking answers.

The important thing to note here is that whether we are seeking peace or answers, those of us who reach out for God in the midst of suffering start from the same place of longing. We long for God to be there... somewhere.

I think that the Christian story provides an additional layer to all of this---especially when it comes to trying to feel God's presence in the tragic moments when it feels like God is absent, and Evil triumphs.

In fact, this quote from Bishop Desmond Tutu sums it up better than I ever could:

For us who are Christians, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is proof positive that love is stronger than hate, that life is stronger than death, that light is stronger than darkness, that laughter and joy and compassion and gentleness and truth, all these are so much stronger than their ghastly counterparts.

We very well may not be able to feel God's presence when the suffering feels too great. We also might not be able to see where God is at work when we are observing tragedy from a distance.

What we can know, however, is that the universal pattern of dying and rising is at work even in the worst things. We can trust that even though it may seem as though Evil is getting the last word, it isn't.

New life will spring up. A new world is possible. Resurrection will happen--somehow, some way.

Because not only is God present with us in our suffering, God is on the other side of it, rolling stones away, and beckoning us out of our tombs.

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.

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shoottheflyingdemon · 7 years ago

Note

Could I request how the assassins would react to their S/O meeting their parents (if their parents are dead just.. resurrect them..?? Or modern au)

Ok sorry this took so long; these all ended up being very long and it took me a long time to get the motivation to do it. I also made the pronouns female because it was just too confusing for me to make it gender neutral, but feel free to change the pronouns as you see fit. I hope you enjoy!

Altair: Altair was never close with him parents, but thatdidn’t mean he was opposed to them meeting his newly-engaged SO. He may nothave been close, but he would not dishonor them by not telling them of themother of their future grandchildren. He would invite his parents to a dinnerat Masyaf. His SO would be hard at work cleaning their quarters and preparingthe dinner, while Altair would stand there sullenly. “You are making a fuss,”he would tell his SO, who would shoot him a glare in response. Eventually,there was a knock at the door and Altair’s parents, Umar and Maud, walked intothe home. Altair greeted them and his mother gave him a tight hug. Altair’s SOentered the room from the kitchen, quickly straightening her dress andadjusting her head coverings. When Altair’s parents saw her, his fatherregarded her with a cool composure (wonder where Altair got it from) and hismother smiled. “Mother, father, this is Y/N, my betrothed,” Altair would say.Both of the parents eyebrows would raise but his mother would soon wrap them ina hug like she did with her son. “It is so nice to meet you,” she would say. “Icannot believe such a beautiful girl would agree to marry my stubborn boy!” shejoked, causing Altair to roll his eyes. “Come,” his SO would say, gesturing tothe dining area, “I have prepared dinner for us.”

Ezio: Ezio’s family was used to him bringing girls oversince the young Italian was so popular with the ladies. But for months he hadbeen with only one young woman and seemed to be quite smitten. He told hisfamily of the wonderful dates they go on and, finally, his mother suggested shecome over for dinner. Ezio was excited, to say the least, but his SO was theopposite. The Auditore family was famous around Firenze. She still couldn’tbelieve she was dating Ezio! Still, she accepted the invitation and joined themfor dinner on a cool fall evening. She arrived dressed in the most beautifuldress she owned, which was still average compared to the Auditores. When she entered the room, Claudia was the first one she saw. “Oh, ciao! It is so nice to finally meet you. I am Claudia,” she introduced. His SO hugged her and smiled. Ezio then put a hand on his SO’s back and led her through the villa to the main room, where Ezio’s mother and father were sitting. They stood up when the couple entered. Ezio’s SO slightly curtsied. “Buonasera,” his SO introduced. Ezio’s mother came and they exchanged cheek kisses. His mother led his SO out of the room to show her the villa and Ezio’s father clasped a hand on his shoulder. “She is beautiful, my son,” he said. “Don’t mess it up.”

Connor: Connor had always been at odds with his father, but his SO insisted that she be introduced to them. She was a fellow assassin with them and has seen his parents before, but always falling in line with the other assassins. She had never met them officially before. So she spent the entire day cleaning her home and preparing it for the lunch they planned. Connor came over at around noon and was surprised to see how clean it was. “What do you think?” his SO asked. Connor simply kissed her forehead, lingering for a moment. It made his SO relax. Connor then helped her work on lunch for the family. It wasn’t long until there was a knock on the door. His SO went to open it, with Connor right behind her. “(Y/N) right?” Connor’s mother said. It was just his mother. Connor figured they wouldn’t arrive together since they weren’t ‘together’ anymore. “Yes ma’am, it is very nice to meet you,” she said, opening the door wide so Kaniehti:io could come inside. The older woman came in and hugged her son. She noticed he was smiling and seemed more happy than he usually was, which made her spirit soar. She talked with the two, wanting to know how they met and how they made it official. Soon there was another knock at the door, which made Connor’s SO’s heart jump into her throat. He told her about his Templar father and how they tried to kill each other once, but that they reconciled because of the insistence of his mother. Since then, they’ve had a rocky relationship. When she opened the door, she was stunned to see him. He had the same face shape and eyes as Connor, but had the air of a Templar. “Hello, Mr. Kenway. I am (Y/N),” she introduced. “Haytham, please,” he said with a smile. She opened the door and allowed him to enter the home. The lunch went well, with his mother being very kind and his father being as kind as he could be. After it was over, they left and happily thanked the couple for lunch. “Well, that went well,” Connor’s SO said, leaning into him and kissing his cheek.

Arno: Arno and his SO planned a meeting with his parents soon after they began dating. Arno was close to both of his parents, especially since he joined the Assassins and followed in his father’s footsteps. So when he started dating her after months of flirtations, he was happy to introduce her to his parents. They were at a restaurant in Paris, waiting for them to arrive. “I’m so nervous,” his SO said. Arno grabbed her hand. “Relax, amour, they’ll love you,” he assured. Arno’s parents then appeared and introduced themselves to the woman. “Bonjour,” she introduced to his father. She then turned to his mother. “Hallo frau,” she introduced to his mother. Arno’s Austrian mother was shocked. “You speak German?” she asked. “A bit; my grandfather was german,” she explained. His parents sat down to the dinner and began to talk about anything and everything. Arno’s SO was very knowledgeable about things, which impressed his parents. When the dinner was over, his parents told Arno how impressed they were by her.

Jacob: Jacob was always the troublemaker of the family, especially with Evie being the star assassin. But he was so happy to show off his new girlfriend to his parents. For once, he felt, he did something right. She was smart, kind and witty. Everything about her was perfect to him. So when they officially started dating, he wanted to arrange a meeting between her and his parents as soon as possible. He used the money he earned from the fights to make reservations at one of the fanciest restaurants in London and to buy his girlfriend a beautiful blue gown. When they got to the restaurant, Jacob was standing by the table, worrying about what would happen. “Jacob, love, you must calm down. I’m the one who should be worried,” his SO assured, wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’ll make it my mission to make sure they love me by the end of the night,” she promised. Jacob wrapped his arms around her and smiled. “Thank you,” he muttered and leaned down to kiss her deeply. Then there was a sound of a throat clearing. Jacob and his SO pulled away from each other to see Jacob’s parents in the doorway, his father looking annoyed. “Oh!” his SO said, facing them and straightening her dress. “Mr. and Mrs. Frye! It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m (Y/N),” she introduced. “Nice to meet you as well,” his father said, slightly cold. Jacob always said he wasn’t one for public affection. They all sat down at the table and his father began to question her on many things, including her education and status. His mother was more quiet. Finally, after a long time, his mother set a hand on her husbands. “Ethan, please, allow the girl some rest. It is clear that she is a very nice woman and Jacob is so obviously in love with her,” she said. Her husband nodded and backed down. Jacob felt relief but his SO relaxed. She was never stressed, because she knew no one could judge her love for her Jacob.

Desmond: When Desmond ran away from the farm, it wasn’t long before he found a girlfriend. They dated for years before Desmond was captured by the Templars. After months of not hearing from him, she finally heard that he was back with the Assassins. Instead of being mad, she was beyond relieved that he was alive. She immediately arranged a time to reunite with him and they met up. When they saw each other, Desmond gladly got down to his knee and proposed to her. She immediately said yes, of course. He had to leave her again to train more, but after New Years 2012, he planned a meeting between his parents and his fiance. He was going to bring her to the farm where he grew up. Hand in hand, they walked through the assassin complex. Eventually, they met up with his parents, both older people with gray hair. They were very warm and welcoming to his fiance, his mother hugging her close. “It’s so great to meet you!” his mother said. His father gave her a nice handshake. “Welcome to the family,” he greeted.

#assassins creed #imagine #headcanon #altair ibn la'ahad #ezio auditore #connor kenway #ratonhnhaké:ton #haytham kenway #arno dorian #jacob frye #desmond miles #romance #writing

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prowlingthunder · 7 years ago

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WIP Meme

So I was tagged by @badwolfgirl01 who clearly doesn’t believe me when I say I have all the projects to do. How do you put nonsense under a cut?

Fandom: Assassin’s Creed Title: Deus ex machina, chapter 3 Notes: The partially-finished Chpt3 has been in my WIP for... a long time. I’ve been squinting at it for a while. Poke it once in a while. Read previous two chapters on Ao3

Eventually he got a few fake IDs that said he was a bit older than he was, which was okay because he looked it, and he started tending bar. The owner had been surprised when Desmond mixed up a drink from barely-there memories, mentioning that it had been many years since the man who'd known how to make a Bloody Templar had retired from the scene. Been kidnapped, you see, and then when he came back he'd done a bit of work and then finally gave his resignation.

He asked Aita. Aita told him, “That was you, before. But I couldn't fit into your life. I tried.”

Fandom: Harry Potter, Saint Seiya Title: A Mother’s Love, chapter 6 Notes: Crossover. Not enough to share here. It’s been stalled for years, since waaay back in my FF.net days. I don’t like to let things die, but it’s hard juggling RL and everything else. There’s been some interest shown in this recently and I’ve also found my old notes, so we’ll see where this goes.

Fandom: Harry Potter, Ronin Warriors Title: Harry Potter and the Light of the Moon, chapter 4 Notes: Crossover. Not enough of the chapter to share. See above reasons for hiatus. Unlike AML, there’s been less interest in this, but I actually like the plot for this a trifle better than AML and my notes are a bit better for this one too. I’ve been poking at it trying to resurrect it from the dead.

Fandom: Mass Effect, Gundam Wing Title: Minor Troubles Notes: Crossover, 2/6 posted on Ao3. The other chapters are slow-going but in existence, though they’re all arguing for Chapter 3 and I’m not yet comfortable sharing the hot mess with ya’ll.

Fandom: YuYu Hakusho, Ronin Warriors Title: Roses in Stained Glass Notes: Crossover, Chapter 2 in progress, Chapter 1 on Ao3. I have to do some more research and designing of the grounds, various people on the area, hammer the plot out a bit more. So far the only thing to share is a teaset, which isn’t enough to spoil you guys with.

Fandom: Outlaw Star, Gundam Wing Title: The Ripple Effect: Desert Rose Notes: Crossover, Part 1 on Ao3. I wont call it a chapter because the next part isn’t a direct continuation of what we’ve got, there doesn’t seem to be a directly-after section for the current posted in my brain. Go figure.

Fandom: Fallout 4 Title: The Devil’s Luck, Chapter 3 Notes: Chapters 1&2 on Ao3. Chapter subject to rewrite, because current writing doesn’t feel quite right.

The inside of the Memory Den was lipstick-red, the color women used to press to letters before they sent them to their sweethearts in the war. It was a shade of red that made his heart ache, just a little. His Nora had started wearing it after they had come home from Alaska, partly to draw attention away from her cheeks, partly to fit in better with the housewives who had surrounded them in Sanctuary Hills. A rather failed attempt to make nice with civilians.

Silas tried to ignore the way McCready watched him. There were a lot of questions in that blue gaze that he wasn't prepared to explain, though he thought he knew what all the questions would be if the younger soldier spoke them out loud.

The memory den? Are you sure? You know what they do in there, right?

He was sure. He had to know for sure if it worked like the rumors said it did. He had to know.

Fandom: Fallout 4 Title: Hell Hath No Fury, Chapter 17 Notes: 1-16 on Ao3. 17 is partially written but not enough to be posted, even with HHNF standards.

Fandom: Fallout 4, Fallout 3 Title: Big Town Blues Notes: Oneshot. Doesn’t yet cover enough of what I want it to cover to be considered even half-complete. Still working! RJ takes Duncan to safety, outside the Commonwealth. The only place that’s safe? Big Town.

“Awe-J and his son--”

“Duncan.”

“Awe-J and Duncan awe hungwy.”

Duncan waved a little over Mac’s shoulder. Tewwy blanched and dropped the nose of his shotgun at once, as if just noticing the child for the first time. “You’ve a child?”

“Startled the fuck out of me too,” MacCready tried, smiling as disarming as he could manage. “Didn’t know I’d made a baby until my wife gave birth to him.”

Tewwy sucked a breath, setting his shotgun down on the table while he moved to pull a pot off the fire. “Billy, you should let mayor know as soon as possible. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure your friend and his son get breakfast.”

“Save some fow me!” Biwwy cried gleefully, nearly dancing on his way back out the door. Tewwy shot a hand motion at his retreating back that Mac didn’t know.

“Ignore him. He’s always hyperactive before breakfast. Have a sit, let the little one down?” The offer sounded pretty genuine.

MacCready moved to a crouch and started unstrapping Duncan’s harness from his back. The little boy let out a whoop of delight; partly for being let loose, partly for the truly divine scent coming from Tewwy’s pan. He had to snatch him by the harness before he went and got under Tewwy’s feet. “Ma,” Duncan whined plaintively.

“It’s not ready yet.”

“He sounds hungry,” Tewwy commented. Mac winced.

“We ran out of rations yesterday.” That hurt to admit. Especially to a stranger. But MacCready wasn’t above wheedling and emotional manipulation to get food in Duncan’s belly.

“Oh my.”

Fandom: Fallout 4, Fallout 3 Working Title: Radstorm Notes: Oneshot. I don’t like the way it reads, but I haven’t quite managed a rewrite that I like yet. It’s not... floaty enough? McCready gets radsickness.

It hurt. Everything hurt. His stomach roiled, guts twisting into knots, and rolled, vomiting over the edge of the cot. He could feel his clothing cling to him, wet and sticky like the blanket, but even that had chased through his bones to leave him weak. He flopped back on his back, hip aching, and tried to find air that wasn't going to melt his lungs.

People talked, background noise of the clinic, and he listened to them and couldn't make out the words, but the sounds helped. Something cool pressed against his flesh, against his head and against his chest. Lucy tugged at his shirt. He blinked up at her, dizzy; reached to find her fingers. She brushed his hand away.

Lu-- 'm hot.

Lucy paused for several heartbeats-- too fast, much too fast, he was too hot and he had to cool down. He heard her fiddling with something. The coolness on his head was ice against a fire. He could feel it drip into his hair. "You have a fever. Don't worry. We'll fix it."

Missed you. She looked like she had when he last saw her, all kitted up to go help mungos who didn't deserve it, stained white cloth at her throat to hide an old scar. She didn't respond to him, cut his shirt down the sleeves and pulled it out from beneath him. He realized, distantly, that he wasn't wearing his scarf. She must have taken it already.

Hot, he whined, and Lu ignored him in an effort to keep working.

Fandom: Fallout 4 Title: Line-dried Laundry Notes: Oneshot, Lupercalia fic. Incomplete, needs some touch-ups. No porn, promise. Nora and her brother back during soldier-days.

"Do you know why we're here?"

Nora did, and told him as much. The rest of the men were eyeing each other in confusion.

Major Rye dipped his hand to her, offering the table.

"You're evaluating us, and our brothers, sir. You're feeding your sister a heat suppressant to ensure her heat holds off while you judge the roster as worthy or unworthy."

Hawken furrowed his brow. Opened his mouth to say something, and decided to keep his fool mouth shut.

Major Rye had a pretty face; strong features, brown eyes, tanned skin. The crinkle around his eyes was a smile. "Very good. Officer Nedved and his brother are our escorts. The four of us will be spending the next two days with your squad to ease the transition. If all goes well, we'll retire to a breed room."

Nora didn't know if it was BreedCom policy to take a whole team off duty or not. She doubted it. Especially since they were front-liners, were Army not Recon Marines, they were a pack within a pack but it wasn't so tight that they couldn't handle without a member or two...

There was something else Major Rye and Officer Nedved were here for, and it wasn't just to rope them into a heat-shack.

Fandom: Fallout 4 Working Title: N/A Notes: Demon-summoning AU, the next in Every Word a Promise - Sil at a Summoning.

[Is this one yours?] Puck asks, words a whisper of wind through his hair. It's like a caress. A part of Silas resents him for being here; a part of him is exulted. Puck is a spirit of deceptive magic, a woodland sprite for twisting, winding paths that get lost in the woods, shaded corners and cool spots where the snake will strike if someone steps. But he is trustworthy, if the words are asked correctly. He never makes a bargain he will not keep. He never offers his strength if he will not be entertained-- and the dead bring no entertainment, for Puck.

Puck is all smiles and honeyed words, a willow swaying in the wind, or the aspen, quaking, but strong enough not to come undone.

Silas can't say anything to him without seeming crazy, so he nods; this one mine.

The thing about forest-spirits, they're all trees standing alone. The woods only truly exist when they come together.

Fandom: Fallout 4 Working Title: All The Things I Didn’t Say Notes: Oneshot? Y7 fic, because Sevan needs love too. This is my... second or third rewrite of this, and I’m not sure I like it yet. Y7 contends with his human counterpart.

The few people he'd run into the Commonwealth hadn't batted an eyelash at the thought that he wasn't the true Silas King. They had greeted him as if he had been. They didn't know.

Silas King knew. He knew what he was and what he wasn't, and Y7 might have gotten the drop on him if he had been more careful, perhaps, or if Silas hadn't seemed to have been expecting him, or.. maybe a thousand other things. Maybe if the rouge coursers hadn't been in town. Maybe if he hadn't followed him down into the Vault.

Maybe.

He hadn't been prepared to have to outwit an unaware subject. He hadn't been prepared to have to handle Silas King in a verbal chess-match, when he had been trained to deal with him physically. Father had some sort of upset against him, which Y7 was not privy to, was not prepared to ask, and did not care to know. It wasn't his business who Father did and did not have issues with.

My son sent you, didn't he?

Fandom: Fallout 4 Working Title: N/A Notes: The one death fic for Sil I haven’t bothered to finish yet and may have to re-poke...

Last night's dinner wants to revisit him. Silas swallows it back down fiercely, ribs screaming in pain. Plants both palms on the ground beneath him and shoves, pushing himself up, gets a knee under himself. Fire sears across his chest. Bones grind, broken. The pain threatens to swallow him.

I can't die like this. Not like this. The enemy is still alive; he wont let himself die until he's dealt with them, wont lay down like a dog and let them have their play. He wont, he wont, he wont. Damned raiders.

Calculatedly, not the best plan he'd ever had. But he couldn't just let them take his men. The Minutemen trusted him, they were his subordinates, his command. Maybe them being his soldiers didn't mean the same thing, here in the future, but it meant plenty to Silas. He refused to die before he got them the keys, got them their weapons--

Fandom: Fallout: New Vegas Working Title: [Inside Pandora’s Box] Notes: Oneshot, Lupercalia fic, wolf’s perspective of waking up at Doc Mitchell‘s.

"Easy there, girl. You and your lady are safe now."

There is still pain. Pain in her chest, and Hope remembers a bullet taking her there when she'd lunged at cigarettes. She still wears the muzzle they put on her, but she cannot blame the old man for trying. Even the shamans will tie off a wolf's jaws when they or their sibling are injured. A wolf cannot help to bite, in hopes of warding away more pain.

Her sister's mind is a quiet blanket of nothing in her mind. That worry holds more pain than Hope can ever feel in her own body. She reaches out, careful, prodding at the pack-sense, but the man is not of the People, he is a stranger utterly, and Hope cannot speak to him, cannot ask him, does my sister yet live?

He'd said you and your lady. Hope does not often have much of her namesake, but she hopes.

Fandom: Fallout: New Vegas Working Title: N/A Notes: Pandora walks the Divide and bristles a lot. Will continue it as I replay more of New Vegas.

Couriers knew each other, and the Post knew them. A courier from the Legion could march into any Post in the Mojave and ask to kip down in the middle of NCR space, and not only would they get a bed and a hot meal, but they'd get a night watch too. She'd heard-- knew, in her bones-- that the same was true for couriers from the other side of the war, who had business through the Legion. The penalty for harassing or harming a courier in the Legion was death. There was a reason she had been able to walk through Nipton unscathed.

There was a reason she could walk anywhere.

The Legion would protect her regardless of her business, and the NCR would protect her as long as her business was their business.

Fandom: Fallout 3 Working Title: Outsider Notes: Oneshot of Jay feeling homesick and a little like an alien outside the vault.

Jay tries not to be, but he is a bleeding heart and he knows it. Still, he does not give them money. He gives them food, and water, and a change of clothes, and a map. For those who want more, Jay has given enough. For those rest who weep with joy, Jay has given them the world.

And that scares him more than he wishes to admit, because they look up with worship and admiration, or they look on him with curled lips twisted in bitter venom. He does not know these people. He does not understand them, because they are not his people.

His people do not want him.

Fandom: Fallout 3 Title: The G.O.A.T. Notes: Oneshot, going to rewrite because it’s choppy and mostly notes but I do rather love it. What it says on the tin. Likely to contain Jay/Butch porn in the rewrite.

He was given a folder and a passcode to his new quarters, and Officer Mack led him there.

Turns out, Vault 101 had a chapel. Who knew?

(Apparently the Chaplain was supposed to be celibate and chaste, according to the Vault 101 charter-- among other things on the list the Overseer had given him, not all of which sounded like good ideas-- but Jay forgot about that rule the moment the king snake decided to help him move his things and break in the new mattress.)

Fandom: Fallout 3 Working Title: (Best laid plans) Notes: Slowgrow Vault fic between Jay and Butch. We’ll see how long it takes to actually write...

The Doctor would probably kill him in the morning. But damn it, he was so tired of being referred to as Junior, as Little James; at least if he changed his hair, he couldn't look just like him.

He had been thinking about that all week, but all he could think about now was the feeling of Butch's gloved fingers working at his scalp, the echo of nothing a quiet lull. Butch had put a towel over his shoulders, but he'd had to strip down to his waist to lessen the risk of getting it on his vault-suit anyway. Butch had admitted to never dying someone's hair before, when Jay had asked.

Fandom: Final Fantasy XV Working Title: N/A Notes: The next fic in Suddenly: An Army. So far it’s mostly hand-written notes and false starts, but it is in progress. Prompto takes Ignis to meet his family.

Fandom: Gundam Wing Working Title: N/A Notes: A clonebaby genderbender AU where it’s Dad and Seven Daughters.

There were three ways to keep a secret that Nate knew.

The first was to keep it totally to yourself. That wasn't going to work for Nate, exactly, since his secret wasn't some intangible thing.

The second was to tell only one other person-- get the secret out of your system-- and then kill them. Two could keep a secret if one of them was dead. This was also not going to work for Nate, though he would happily kill anyone to keep his secret secure.

The third way was tell everyone.

Fandom: Lord of the Rings Working Title: Wolflords Notes: A fire-watch child from Gondor dreams of Elves and their wolves

Giayl had known the fable of elven-wolves. Of course he had. Maybe his family wasn’t scholars-- he and his family had been looking after the watch-fire for generations-- but the black land could be seen in the distance, and on especially calm nights, there was claim the orc-wolves could be heard. Giayl didn’t know he believed that one. He much preferred the stories of of the elves and their wolves, sunshine-gold and moon-bright silver, midnight blue dappled with stars, all long-lived and all elegant and graceful like the elves themselves. Eternal.

Fandom: Lord of the Rings: Online Working Title: Caran Dagra Notes: Imorrael’s mortal son joins the American Military. James finds unexpected friends there.

“It's from my mother,” he offered to their silence, pulling out a just-as-new piece of card parchment.

Aeglirann, son of Imorrael, she wrote in her flowing, looping script. He had been reading Elvish for enough years it was easy to decipher. Not that there was a lot of it. Take this and know you are mine.

He sat the card aside, face up, and ignored the trio as they read it. He peered back into they envelope instead, then tipped it up into his palm.

A piece of ash-wood fell into his fingers. A simple oval slice, about as big as a quarter, with a penny-length shard of blue in the center, gemstone fused to heartwood. A small hole had been punched through the wood, and the whole thing had apparently been coated in clear resin to hold color.

Fandom: Mass Effect Working Title: Star-light, Star-bright Notes: Bobby Shepard and her wolf-queen, Danica, deal with the nonsense that is their life.

But then, it was hard to love anything more than she loved Danica, the sun-gold she-wolf that she was. An Alliance wolf from a strong line, a little temperamental but bred for endurance, strength, command. A bloodline that traced itself beyond the birth of the Alliance, beyond the deaths of the last trolls, beyond, beyond, beyond. Back before time. Before space.

Before the first wolves touched minds with the first wolf-brother. Certainly before wolves ever took to wolf-sisters. But Danica had decided that Bobby was going to be hers before anything else, before the chain of command or the loyalty of a pack. Bobby belonged to Danica, and Danica belonged to Bobby.

And when they did get a pack, when they cycled through training and ended up with a team, they didn't... quite fit in, but Danica would duck her head and Bobby would salute their team leader, and they would make it work.

When the Batarians attacked while on leave, Danica glowed bright as a star in the pack sense, and Bobby glowed with her, and beneath them, around them, people rallied under instruction and discipline of a wolf and Danica and Bobby dug in their heels and decided, no more. No one else.

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug Title: Black Cats and Broken Mirrors, Chapter 5 Notes: Chapters 1-4 on Ao3. All the actual words I’ve got for chapter 5 is handwritten and everything else is notes. So I’ve nothing quite to share with you for chapter five, except suffice to say, Felix is unhappy.

Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Working Title: Wolfthreat Notes: This is going to need some rework and some more polishing, but overall I do like it and so I’m not anywhere near done yet. Why you gotta be frustrating, Soldier Harris? Lupercalia fic.

“Mister G!”

Giles had the good grace not to have been holding a cup of tea, this time. But his smile was wide and a little tired, and the book in front of him for once had nothing to do with demons or magic or anything like that. Not that Alexander accounted Son of None as a good book, but in a world without the Slayer, any literature at all making it's way whole and accounted for to the Hellmouth was a godsend, and comic books took their time making it around the Wolfmount.

Most places didn't want to deal with them.

Other wolfpacks didn't want to deal with them. A wolfpack living on a Hellmouth had to be considered pretty much gone, and anyone who stayed for more than a rotation wasn't considered fit for duty anywhere else, because everywhere else was tame and Sunnydale broke lesser wills to live.

Alexander had been here since he was born. So had Aurore. Neither of them were going anywhere, and if they had to teach the people coming in, that was okay too.

Fandom: Attack on Titan Working Title: N/A Notes: OCs everywhere! Because I couldn’t ever help myself :3

The girl brightens for reasons John can't fathom, except that she looks way too happy her brother is leaving. “Yes!”

Faolan then looks at him, and smiles again. “I'll keep Adam safe, okay kid? You can count on me for that.” John blinks and then nods, slowly, while Adam huffs and punches Faolan in the arm. “Ow! What was that for?”

“I don't need protection; you seem to be forgetting who had better scores!”

“So what? I still kicked your ass in hand-to-hand.”

“Titans are people-shaped, not people-sized!”

John doesn't know what any of it means, but it's not actually that reassuring.

Adam says goodbye to him again before he and Faolan are heading back to the other soldiers. When the bell tolls, the girl, Adolpha, is waving again.

“Come back soon! I'll be waiting!”

John takes the ferry back into Rose and makes his way home, and Adam's right; he doesn't really notice that Adam's not there. Adam hasn't been there for years.

Fandom: Space Pirate: Captain Harlock Working Title: N/A Notes: Logan contends with the difference between love and loyalty, and who is worth either.

The words Mom had said, clear and crisp in his childhood, had been the root of much Logan had done in his life. He had always tried to live by her words; not to never do anything he might regret, but to never regret anything he would do. Never to give his loyalty away to the first bidder-- and Mom had been big on loyalty, true, but the lesson had always struck with him the most, there in her garden.

Loyalty, Mom had said, is not love. Love is different. Love can kill you, if you let it; it can strangle those you care for. It can swallow you, and tear you apart from the inside. Which isn't to say it isn't beautiful or wonderful or precious. Love is... mistletoe. It flowers and blooms, and it only grows bigger with each passing year, so long as it has something to feed off. But mistletoe can kill you, if you eat it.

But loyalty is the most beautiful thing, because love just happens, but loyalty... Loyalty is a choice.

Logan had always loved Nami, he guessed. Like a parasite, they had just grew together. But Nami had married Ezra; Ezra, who had a stable job in the military and was moving up in the world. No one had any doubts he would make it to the top of the command bracket; he might even get a seat on the Gaia Coalition's Counsel. And Logan loved Ezra, the love of two brothers raised together, so close they might have been one person.

But he had been loyal to Ezra, too. He had never taken Nami to bed, even though he loved her. Even though he'd had his chances, every time Ezra was out on deployment. He'd longed every time he saw her that she had picked him instead, but every time he saw Ezra look at her, he just seemed so heartbreakingly happy...

Fandom: Thor Working Title: All the Little Children Notes: Lupercalia fic. Thor deals with the aftermath of Loki’s fall, sheltering his brother’s children from the wrath of their grandfather.

I could have done it.

No, Loki.

Time and time again, their father had charged the both of them with great quests, feats so impossible that they were nothing short of heroic. Feats only the princes of Asgard could accomplish. It was a hard pill to swallow, hearing his own words out of Loki's mouth. Loki, who had never debased himself so far as to say I could have. Loki, who was given impossible tasks, do not let the Giant finish the wall, and Loki who always came through for their father.

Thor failed occasionally. But nothing felt more terrible a failure than watching Loki let go of the All-Father's staff.

He couldn't save his brother.

I couldn't save mother.

The words echoed loudly through his head, sharp and full of piercing pain, his agony put to voice. But he had never called Loki mother. A sharp knocking on his chamber door jerked him from his reverie and he turned his head, blinking at it. He had talked with his father, after the Fall; Thor, listen to me, Loki was a frost giant, you did the right thing. It would not be a servant at the door, for after the conversation he had explicitly told them he would not be bothered. No courtier would risk it, would dare. He was to be alone.

I couldn't save mother. I couldn't-- I tried.

The knock repeated, more urgent.

Fandom: Overwatch Working Title: N/A Notes: McHanzo timetravel shenanigans. Because why not let them timetravel to meet kid!McCree before he’s their McCree...

There was also a frog on the third bench, complaining about the radio station. Jesse was pretending not to hear him talk. There were only two channels this far out in the middle of nowhere, and the only reason Jesse hadn’t picked country was because half of them were nursing injuries and the other half were fatigued to hell and back. New fangled rock and roll wasn’t was good as the classics, but it was still heavy on the drums and guitar riffs.

Mama had sworn by them. Lucio was just going to have to chill.

Fandom: Overwatch Working Title: N/A Notes: McSymmenji fic that’s had several false starts but I think I finally have a good one for. It’s just going to be longer than planned...

Fandom: Overwatch Working Title: N/A Notes: McHanzo Gift-fic, in progress, with a slice of bodyguard and worldbuilding. Probably wont post unless the recipient clears me to, but.

Not that Hanzo isn’t still otherwise. He is. He is the stillest thing Jesse’s ever seen, calm as a frozen pond on a bright-moon’d winter’s night. There’s no wasted movements with the man.

There aren’t many with himself, but Jesse knows when he’s lying and he’s always lying if he says he doesn’t have a flair for the dramatics. Which he does. There is a reason he keeps flash-bangs in his arsenal.

He’s American, after all. Nobody does fireworks like America.

Nobody does Hanamura like Hanzo, either. That’s why they’re here.

Though frankly, Jesse’s getting real sick of Hanamura.

Fandom: Ronin Warriors Working Title: N/A Notes: I’m thinking about a third done, honestly. There’s some more things I want to cover before I post this, even if this section feels complete save for a name.

"Arashinoumi."

Yulie's head snapped his way. "Huh?"

"That's her name. Arashinoumi."

Stormy waters, Mia noted. Like white-water rapids, or seafoam.

"Arashinoumi.." Yulie blinked again, glancing down at her. She sat primly in front of him, dark eyes looking up at him patiently. He stretched his fingers out, careful, aware enough that she wasn't a house pet or a tame dog. "Can I pet her?"

"She's waiting for your name," Torrent gentled. "She says you can pet her after."

Fandom: Ronin Warriors Title: Blood and Ashes Notes: Hariel/Arago Lupercalia fic that’s undergone several rewrites and false starts. Urgh.

“If we should be careful,” Hariel ventured, listening through Inferno’s ears to the fact that Arago had not left. “Then why are we still here?” He knew the answer, but Inferno reaffirming it would secure the knowledge. There were so many reasons.

Because a human and his wolf-brother had slain a dragon and tiger. Because one clanless samurai had slain an emperor. Because there were no properly bonded packs in Suzuran, just Bonded, scattered few and far between. Because this man had killed his blood-brother. Because the pair of them were from beyond the gates; humans from the ancestral home of humans, humans that were short-lived but burning bright. Because Inferno was a bitch, and Hariel was a bitch’s brother. Because it had to be lonely, being a pack of one.

“We want to meet them.” Inferno gave him a wolf-smile and nudged at his elbow with her nose, begging affection. He reached out and rubbed her behind the ear, where she liked it best. “They are young puppies, and they are full of curiosity. All we have to do is wait them out.” Not their tactically best plan, but she was right, and that was what mattered.

Fandom: Ronin Warriors Title: Coal Dust Notes: The next in Ink Stains On Paper, covering Ryo and his role in this world. I’ve had a bunch of false starts on this as I try to find the right way to do it, but I think I’m finally getting close.

Fandom: Ronin Warriors Title: Kagome, Kagome Notes: I need to rewrite part of the first bit, and finish the third and fourth bits. Go figure. Seiji-centric, covering a return to New York, dealing with the events of the OVA.

“Hey man, you ruined my shot!”

“My apologies.” New Yorkers, he thought, moving to the side of the alley; he pressed himself up against the wall, fingers unconsciously finding the ridges between mortar and red clay. It felt rough and filthy against his skin, catching at his clothes and hair like grasping hands, reaching to pull him in and under...

The stranger's camera flashed again and at once Seiji flung himself away from the wall, covered in goose-flesh; sharp amethyst eyes hunted the stained structure for the offending limbs.

There was nothing there to see.

“Hey.. hey man, you okay? You lost or somethin'?”

Fandom: Star Wars Working Title: Supernova Notes: Oneshot. Original Characters, Not A Canon Character In Sight, Eury deals with being a teacher and explaining what the Force is.

“The Force is in everything?”

“Everything,” he confirmed. “They are the stars, and all the space between the stars. The stars make light so we can see them, and the space between stars does not. Sometimes the space between makes stars, and they light up like other stars. And sometimes the stars go dark,” sometimes they explode. Sometimes they turned into planets. But those were things his little girl didn’t need yet. “But they’re still stars.”

“You and mommy are stars?”

“And you.” He leaned down to tap their noses, prompting a sleepy giggle. He hated having to explain it, but better she learn now than later, even if he would just likely end up teaching her again tomorrow. “You are a little star too.”

Fandom: Star Wars Working Title: Monsters in the Dark Notes: Oneshot. Original Characters, Not A Canon Character In Sight

(He remembers: You would condemn an innocent to death? You would cast yourself into the darkest of the dark, the murder of the unborn, and you would do it in the name of the Jedi? You fear the dead so much you do not know to fear the living! I refuse this, I defy it! This is an innocent, and it will live, you will protect it and it will live, Oriole, protection of the innocent is the keystone of Jedi teachings and this one you shall not break!)

(He was a Sith and the same way he would let her fears fester so she would come to him, accept his care, love, and affection, he would break her will to save his child. No matter what he had to do, no matter how Dark it made him.)

(He was a Sith. He did not fear the Dark. He thrived in it. Let any who dared to cross him try and see what monsters it made of men.)

Fandom: Star Wars: The Old Republic Working Title: N/A Notes: Oh. I forgot I had started this. Zabrak bounty hunter appears on the screen!

At least her father was with the Republic. If he'd have been on the other side of the war...

Well. Jeeri could safely say at least that they did more work for the Republic then they did for the Empire. The crews overall moral compass meant that Republic jobs spoke to the morals louder, and there was also that the Republic usually offered better pay, or at least jobs that were more or less straightforward.

Didn't mean that all jobs were Republic. The lab of horrors was a nightmare in her mind, never shaken. Sometimes Empire jobs were honest. Sometimes Empire jobs were things she would have done on her own, the Republic trying to win their war the wrong way. If she got paid for it... well.

Well. At least they didn't get caught. And her conscious was clean.

Fandom: Sword Art Online Title: This Is A Bad Plan, Chapter 4 Notes: I, uh, have notes on Chapter 4, but nothing written otherwise. Fic is a “SAO becomes real and some players read that book but tried it anyway.” Read Chapters 1-3 on Ao3

Fandom: Voltron Working Title: N/A Notes: The Keith-centric sequel to In The Wind (Or Lack Thereof). I’ve had an unfortunate number of false starts with this one, go figure...

Fandom: Ronin Warrior, Dragon Age Working Title: Dragons Breath Notes: Crossover. I think I’m going to flat-out rewrite this.. Sequel to Sympathy for the Devil

“But if you come with Morrigan and I, who would take care of the mabari?”

Flemeth had wrapped the king in Chasind clothing, which Cailan had kept; a wrapped tunic bound together with a sash, and a loose pair of trousers. The blue looked good on him-- not bright, but not dark either. It managed to make him stand out less then his armor, which had probably been the point. ...not that they did not stand out a good deal anyway, but until they figured out what Loghain had told to Fereldan, it was best they not announce that the king still lived.

A part of Alistair was selfishly glad he was alive. Another part entirely was horribly frustrated by it.

It could have been worse. The Darkspawn could have killed him; he wouldn't have even had the chance to give the other a proper funeral.

“Maric could come with us!”

...it was amazing that he had named the beast after their father.

Fandom: Final Fantasy X, Gundam Wing Working Title: Like Shooting Stars Notes: Crossover. Parts of this I like, and parts of this I’ll cut, but the idea is super shiny and I’m definitely running the whole way with this.

Wakka and his newfound, impetuous (but cute) Blitzball player had brought a young woman in from the surf when they had come back to the village. Yuna had saw her out of the corner of her eye during the Summoning, swathed in white, with hair lighter than Yuna's, but not nearly anything as pale as the young Blitzer's chocobo-yellow. She had watched, Yuna thought, leaning against the posts that made up the door of the Lodge, but by the time the Summoning was over and Yuna could look, the lady in white had vanished. Back inside, maybe.

The townspeople had demanded her attention, after. She hadn't been able to disappoint them, even though she had wanted desperately to rest.

She did see her again later, though, around the village fire.

Fandom: YuYu Hakusho, Naruto Working Title: Foxkids Notes: Sequel to More Precious Than Gold

Gaining custody of an orphan wasn't easy in Konoha. Kurama wasn't sure how he had thought it might be-- maybe because it should have been, because it would have been in the youkai. It would have been nothing; just his desire to pick up a child no one else cared for, scruff him and carry him back to the den. Easy.

Apparently in Konoha it required paperwork, and a large amount of it, and no small amount of Kurama's clever lies.

Fandom: Star Trek, Ronin Warriors Working Title: N/A Notes: ...I have no excuses for this that do not include a lot of things I don’t want to tell anybody. Moving on.

"Spread the word that we're not to use the torpedos, either."

That catches Spock completely flat footed. He stares at Seiji, bright-eyed and surprised, and it strikes Seiji as familiarity too. He looked so much like friends he had lost a long time. Maybe it's the shape of his face. He's not sure. It takes a moment for him to bring himself back to some semblance of control. "It is illogical not to use every weapon at our disposal." Which was Vulcanese for Spock asking why, even though he knew perfectly well why it was illogical in this situation. Bomb an enemy home world? Over a single escaped criminal? That would start a war, no questions asked.

Fandom: X-men, Ronin Warriors Working Title: Dragon Teeth Notes: Kenshin becomes a teacher at a certain school. In need of a rewrite.

Fandom: The Hobbit, Ronin Warriors Working Title: N/A Notes: The one where Seiji becomes Bilbo’s live-in house-guest after the Fell Winter and is still there when a specific wizard shows up to cause trouble.

Fandom: Gundam Wing, Invasion America, Final Fantasy X Working Title: Unlikely Notes: Relena, Auron, and Cale survive the first day of the zombie apocalypse. In theory.

“Do you know where we’re going? You seem quite lost for an earth-man…”

Talking. He’d been doing that since he woke up. Auron kind of wished he’d stop or go back to being unconscious. Certainly he’d been easier to carry. “Steenrade,” because he had figured out already that answering questions gained him some measure of quiet during the march. “The capital of the Sanq Kingdom.”

Cale-Oosha nodded. “Is that the capital of the world? I had meant to go there to meet with the king.”

“Queen,” Auron corrected. And the Queen of Sanq had once been Queen of the World, if his ventures in the local political system were correct. But that was nearly an elected position; like the Maesters. From the sound of things, the young woman hadn’t been Queen of the World in a long time.

Fandom: Gundam Wing, Naruto Working Title: N/A Notes: Shikamaru, Temari, and space colonies.

"Welcome to the outside world, Mister and Missus Nara. I see you have both arrived in civilization in one piece." At Missus Nara, Temari grinned. She produced a pair of paper from the fold of her robe and Agent Chang accepted them, breaking the seals pressed upon the first, reading it over, before then doing the same with the second. Dark eyes peered over at them when he was finished. "So you are the two they sent for the Winner job?"

Which sounded like something the Fifth Hokage would name an op, if they still let her name ops. The winner job. On paper it had struck him weird, but on paper they were going to be sent to protect important person, name undisclosed, delivered upon arrival. Now, out of Chang's mouth, it sounded like a person's name. Which... well. Okay then.

Fandom: Gundam Wing, Pacific Rim Working Title: N/A Notes: Unattached to the Hellfire universe. Dunno what I’ll do with this...

Because Catherine hated kaiju, and she hated the rangers that fought them, and she hated the mess it all caused, but No Name had carried the letter with her name on it for the last six months, the one with an attached but out-of-date photograph by at least a year, the one that had told him that she didn't have a firm address, she worked for the circus that was trying to eek out a living in these times, and make people forget the troubles of giant monsters for a little while.

She picked him out of the crowd for knife-throwing, probably to see if he would flinch. They didn't say a word to each other then, but he waited around outside the tent after her acts finished, and the first thing she did was slap him.

And then she burst into tears, and hugged him.

Fandom: Gundam Wing Working Title: N/A Notes: A GW daemon au fic I don’t know what I’ll do with...

Self-conscious, Jesse drew his hands into his sleeves a bit further, leaving the folder open on his desk. The owl whoooed. Jesse blinked. “Pardon?”

The owl's face pinched a bit, and the creature seemed to twist, becoming horribly small. The new recruit recoiled as it turned itself into something closely resembling vampire horror-stories. “Whooo are youuu?” Female tone and pitch, rolling tones that marked the owl's own accent, after a fashion. All daemon had them.

“Err... Agent Jesse.”

“Ahh. Sooo youuu are the newww boy.”

Well. Yes. But he wasn't sure why he needed to tell her that. “And you are?”

“None of youuur business.”

“Zulaykha, be polite.” The bird hmphed, even as the blond caught Jesse's attention once more. Gone was the business suit, replaced by a proper Preventer's uniform, ZERO stitched into the name placeholder.

I also have scraps/notes for: -- Another part in my Dragon Age Every Warden Ever series called Hounds of Gray. -- Scraps for a Fallout 4 Sil introducing X6 to Sanctuary. -- Notes for a With Bundles of Forget-Me-Nots verse fic, direct sequel to In Memory -- Notes for another part of Differences -- Scraps for an Invasion America fic for Nebrija and Arzu fic, two original characters of mine. -- Scraps for an Invasion America fic for poor Briggs -- The Stan sequel fic to Aitai -- The Hanzo/Yuuma prequel fic of Aitai -- The sequel piece of Quadrature, covering Seiji’s recovery and where Halo is -- Notes for the eight Invasion America prompts I still owe -- A short cutesy few hundred words fic for Fallout 3 character Joan -- Notes for the Ronin Warriors prompts I owe -- The sequels to Le Dragon, Step One, Silence is Golden, Confabulation, Here, There Be Dragons, Can’t Take You Anywhere, Lords of War, Pack and Pups (What’s Mine Is Mine) -- The mission fic sequel to Tango Sigma -- Notes for the Hellfire series, chiefly a vs Kaiju fic -- Notes for Kaiju Blue/Titan Red, Upon the Apple Lotus, Dogtags, First Words, Instinct, Like Good Soldiers, Dirt -- Notes and scrap for several fics inside the Teeth and Pawprints universe -- A hypothetical fic for Stars Which Never Were, as well as a potential second chapter to Of Empty Streets and Seasalt

Things I May Never Post: -- An unfinished pre-Vault Fallout 4 A/B/O fic that feels like it needs an overhaul to be less bad porn and more world-building. -- A couple Fallout 4 fics I was writing with a soul-sister who I am currently going through a rough patch with. -- A Kingdom Hearts fic I started with a soul-brother who is no longer talking to me.

AND IN OTHER NEWS, Things Not Fanfiction:

I have twelve novels in progress, in various stages, but still. Twelve. One of them is mostly finished and will be my July Camp NaNo project. The others are in various stages of disarray and or worldbuilding.

#fanfiction #prowlingwrites #meme #writing meme #my writing

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thepracticeco · 5 years ago

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YOU BELONG TO AN EXTRAORDINARY MOVEMENT OF GRACE One of my literary heroes lost a fierce battle for her health earlier this year. I first found #RachelHeldEvans through her book: "Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church." I was going through a similar experience, and her wisdom and story were like a good friend beside me on the journey. The following is an excerpt from her book, "Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again." Please keep Rachel's family in your thoughts and prayers. "What happened on the cross has been the subject of wonder and debate for centuries, with Christians of good faith employing different metaphors and language to articulate its significance, but any view that reduces Jesus to a sort of deus ex machina, necessary only for a single moment of rescue, strips the incarnation of all its power and tells a far simpler story than the one the Bible actually gives us. Jesus didn’t just “come to die.” Jesus came to live—to teach, to heal, to tell stories, to protest, to turn over tables, to touch people who weren’t supposed to be touched and eat with people who weren’t supposed to be eaten with, to break bread, to pour wine, to wash feet, to face temptation, to tick off the authorities, to fulfill Scripture, to forgive, to announce the start of a brand-new kingdom, to show us what that kingdom is like, to show us what God is like, to love his enemies to the point of death at their hands, and to beat death by rising from the grave. Jesus did not simply die to save us from our sins; Jesus lived to save us from our sins. His life and teachings show us the way to liberation. But you can’t fit all that on a bumper sticker. So we try to boil it down to a formula. Four steps. The “Romans Road.” John 3:16. And yet the gospel itself, in its eternal scope and scandalous particularity, defies reduction. Like it or not, the gospel is a story unleashed. Even Jesus had trouble keeping a lid on it. According to Matthew and Mark’s accounts, Jesus often asked those he healed not to tell anyone about his miracles, but to no avail. Sure enough, the crowds got so big, Jesus had to flee to the desert to get some privacy. Jesus predicted the gospel would reach people from the east and the west, the north and the south; John described them coming from every tribe, every language, and every nation. There’s just no way you can give this many people a story and expect them to stay “on message.” The gospel fails rather epically at brand management. And that makes some people nervous. That makes me nervous. Because it means every Christian gets a testimony, every Christian gets a “gospel according to . . .” whether you’re Desmond Tutu or Tim Tebow. . Sometimes those gospel stories step on your toes. Sometimes they challenge or annoy. Sometimes they force you to confront your privilege, your pride, or your lack of imagination for just how reckless and wild and indiscriminate the Holy Spirit can be... The gospel means that every small story is part of a sweeping story, every ordinary life part of an extraordinary movement. God is busy making all things new, and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus has opened that work to everyone who wants in on it.” (1.) Your story might seem ordinary and insignificant amongst the sea of stories that fill the earth, but it is far from dull. It is part of an extraordinary movement of life and love and grace. Open your eyes and heart, and you’ll see. All the love, Liz. Insta: @lizzy.milani 😘 xoxo 1). Rachel Held Evans. Inspired (p. 157). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

http://www.pktfuel.com

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esonetwork · 5 years ago

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Double Edged Double Bill Podcast

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/podcasts/double-edged-double-bill-podcast/

Double Edged Double Bill Podcast

Please have your ticket stubs out for the Double Edged Double Bill! Each week, Adam Thomas and Thomas Mariani will come to the table to discuss the randomly selected yin and yang of a double feature. Then, both will have to pick a number between one and ten in order to seal their fates for the next episode. One will have two good movies. The other two bad ones. Let the chaos begin!

Got questions? [email protected]

Double Edged Double Bill Each week, Adam Thomas and Thomas Mariani will come to the table to randomly select the yin and yang of a double feature. One will have two good movies. The other two bad ones. Both will have to pick a number between one and ten in order to seal their fates for each episode.

65: No Pain, No Gain, No Holds Barred

by Thomas Mariani on July 30, 2019 at 5:02 am

It's time for Thomas Mariani and Adam Thomas to get in the ring for another round of Double Edged Double Bill! With Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw coming out as a vehicle for a certain pro-wrestler-turned-actor, our duo takes on a double bill of films starring pro-wrestlers! First up is their bad feature No Holds Barred, a giant tribute to wrestler and controversial human/gas station hot dog hybrid Hulk Hogan. Then, their good feature Pain & Gain, which our heroes argue isn't just the best film for pro-wrestler turned star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson & director Michael Bay, but may just be the most brutally dark satire of our modern age. Together, our duo dare to address big issues like Tiny Lister Jr's eyebrow maintenance, Dwayne Johnson's even more massive proportions and picking the films for next week's episode on Guillermo del Toro. So grab your folding chairs and get ready to slam down on that download button! OH YEAH! To stay up to date about the podcast, follow us on Twitter @DEDBpod, our Facebook page and send us feedback at [email protected]! If you like the show, please subscribe to or rate us on platforms like iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher! […]

64: Quentin Tarantino Presents A Death Proof Jackie Brown

by Thomas Mariani on July 23, 2019 at 5:01 am

Quentin Tarantino doesn't make films too often. So, to celebrate the release of Once Upon a Time In Hollywood this week, Adam Thomas and Thomas Mariani are looking back at the influential filmmaker's filmography with special guest Christian Alvarez! First up is their good pick Jackie Brown, which our trio praises as underrated and nuanced. Then, there's much debate over how bad their bad feature Death Proof is, a highly stylized tribute to 70s exploitation that may be too faithful to its influences. Together, our trio answers all the important questions. Is Jackie Brown peak De Niro face? Is Death Proof a prequel to Drive? What are Adam & Thomas' picks for next week's episode on pro-wrestlers in film? Well, put in that 8 track and get ready for one hell of a double bill, baby! To stay up to date about the podcast, follow us on Twitter @DEDBpod, our Facebook page and send us feedback at [email protected]! If you like the show, please subscribe to or rate us on platforms like iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher! […]

63: The Island of Dr. Highlander - Films Worth Remaking

by Thomas Mariani on July 16, 2019 at 5:01 am

Hollywood keeps remaking movies that don't need to be remade, like a photorealistic The Lion King remake we're getting this week. So, for this week's Double Edged Double Bill, Adam Thomas and Thomas Mariani are suggesting two films that would be worth a new take! First up is Highlander, the fantasy action film that Thomas argues could benefit from better action and less miscasting of Frenchmen playing Scottish. Then, Adam argues the 1996 version of The Island of Dr. Moreau has the definitive version of a classic story with a less ego & more empathy for animal/human hybrids. Together, our duo tries to make sense of a Scottish man playing a Spaniard from Egypt, wonders what movie Marlon Brando was in and picks the films for next week's episode on Quentin Tarantino. So listen in for pitches of what could be! To stay up to date about the podcast, follow us on Twitter @DEDBpod, our Facebook page and send us feedback at [email protected]! If you like the show, please subscribe to or rate us on platforms like iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher! […]

62: Goonies R Not Good Enough for Strange Days - Overrated vs Underrated Part Deux

by Thomas Mariani on July 9, 2019 at 5:01 am

After their last excursion into the world of overrated & underrated cinema, Adam Thomas & Thomas Mariani are returning to spark controversy with their hot takes on Double Edged Double Bill yet again! This time, the duo is joined by guest Desmond Peel of the Desmond's Flicks Podcast and YouTube channel for this strange randomly decided double header. First up, Adam's underrated choice of Strange Days, the Kathryn Bigelow film where she got the villain of Schindler's List to play a VR used car salesman. Then, Thomas' overrated choice of The Goonies, which will likely send an angry mob of '80s kids to his door. Together, our trio pitches their Tom Arnold podcast, reveals Adam's crippling One Eyed Willy related debt and picks the films for next week's episode all about films that deserve to a remake. So hook up your SQUID headset and dial into our show, ya Goonies! Check out Thomas talking Midsommar and The Wicker Man on The Horror Returns! To stay up to date about the podcast, follow us on Twitter @DEDBpod, our Facebook page and send us feedback at [email protected]! If you like the show, please subscribe to or rate us on platforms like iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher! […]

61: Replicas of Us in 2019 So Far

by Thomas Mariani on July 2, 2019 at 5:01 am

2019 has hit the halfway mark and Double Edged Double Bill is celebrating with a good and not-so-good film from the first six months of the year! First up, Adam Thomas' bad pick that the listeners voted for is Replicas, the Keanu Reeves film from 2019 no one wants to bring up in his modern Keanu-ssance. Then, our good feature that was Thomas Mariani's choice is Jordan Peele's second feature Us, in which Lupita Nyong'o leads a strong double header cast to scary heights. Together, Adam & Thomas wonder how Keanu relates to today's Cardi B obsessed youth, highlight the aristocratic nature of physical media owners and pick the films for next week's episode revisiting Overrated & Underrated movies! So share an Airpod with your horrific duplicate of science gone mad and listen in! To stay up to date about the podcast, follow us on Twitter @DEDBpod, our Facebook page and send us feedback at [email protected]! If you like the show, please subscribe to or rate us on platforms like iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher! […]

60: Aliens Resurrection: Xenomorphobia Runs Rampant!

by Thomas Mariani on June 25, 2019 at 5:01 am

Alien turns 40 this year and Double Edged Double Bill is celebrating by covering two entries in this bizarre yet enduring franchise! Adam Thomas and Thomas Mariani both love the sci-fi/horror/action tales of Xenomorphs and Ellen Ripley... to varying degrees. First up, the good feature & second film in the series Aliens, which made Sigourney Weaver an action legend and James Cameron the titan he is today. Then, the bad feature is Alien Resurrection, where a snarky Joss Whedon screenplay and a visionary French director clash to form a sultry Xeno/Ripley hybrid. Together, our duo laughs hysterically at Jenette Goldstein's "authentic" makeup, confirm Dan Hedaya's status as Hollywood's hairiest man and pick the films for next week's episode on 2019 So Far! So download the podcast now before that xenomorph blood burns your hand off! To stay up to date about the podcast, follow us on Twitter @DEDBpod, our Facebook page and send us feedback at [email protected]! If you like the show, please subscribe to or rate us on platforms like iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher! […]

59: Pixar Presents Up Yours, Good Dinosaur

by Thomas Mariani on June 18, 2019 at 5:01 am

As we all prepare to open our toy boxes again for Toy Story 4, Double Edged Double Bill is doing a double feature from everyone's favorite Disney subsidiary Pixar Animation Studios! Adam and Thomas are joined by guest James 'Rodders' Rodrigues as he classes up the show with his British accent. First up is the good film Up, which drives our trio to tears from it's famous start to it's underrated finale. Then, the bad feature The Good Dinosaur, which feels almost unfinished compared to other Pixar films. Together, our trio makes this an unofficial Christopher Plummer stan podcast, recommends playing with Fisher Price toys on hallucinogens, pitch the Pixar slasher film and picks the films for next week's episode on the Alien franchise. So tie those balloons to your house and give us a listen while you soar over the city! To stay up to date about the podcast, follow us on Twitter @DEDBpod, our Facebook page and send us feedback at [email protected]! Remember to vote for our bad film pick on the 2019 So Far episode by June 19th! If you like the show, please subscribe to or rate us on platforms like iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher! […]

58: Samuel L. Jackson in The Caveman's Jumper

by Thomas Mariani on June 11, 2019 at 5:01 am

Samuel L. Jackson is one of the most ubiquitous actors working today. So, given he's returning to screens for the fourth time this year with Shaft, Adam Thomas and Thomas Mariani are here to do a double header of films from his filmography alongside returning guest Shakyl Lambert of Seequels podcast and OneOfUs.net! First up, our good film is The Caveman's Valentine. What? You've never heard of the classic mystery/thriller where Jackson plays a cave dwelling homeless man trying to solve a murder before? Well, neither ha 2/3rds of our crew. Then, our bad feature is Jumper, in which a teleporting Hayden "Anakin Skywalker" Christensen is hunted down by a bleach blonde Jackson. Together, our trio compare the integrity of Samuel's wigs, drive Adam to his breaking point and pick the films for next week's episode on Pixar. So jump right into this episode before Samuel L. Jackson starts cursing at you! To stay up to date about the podcast, follow us on Twitter @DEDBpod, our Facebook page and send us feedback at [email protected]! Remember to vote for our bad film pick on the 2019 So Far episode by June 19th! If you like the show, please subscribe to or rate us on platforms like iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher! […]

57: 50 Shades of Evil Within Troubled Productions

by Thomas Mariani on June 4, 2019 at 5:01 am

Making films can be rough. Budgets inflate, personalities clash, directors are on meth. Movie magic doesn't come easy. That is exactly what Adam Thomas and Thomas Mariani are dissecting this week on Double Edged Double Bill! This week, in honor of X-Men: Dark Phoenix shambling to theaters following a delays & reshoots, it's all about films with troubled productions. First up, our good feature The Evil Within, a horror film that took 15 years of production while being made by reclusive billionaire and meth addict Andrew Getty. Then, our bad feature is 50 Shades of Grey, the massively popular yet universally loathed erotic thriller which had author E.L. James hovering over the entire production. Together, our hosts ponder how to explain surreal nightmares, debate the investment of Dakota Johnson and pick the films for next week's episode on Samuel L. Jackson. So tune in now before this podcast goes even more over budget! Listen to Thomas' guest spots on the podcasts We Forgive You and The Horror Returns. To stay up to date about the podcast, follow us on Twitter @DEDBpod, our Facebook page and send us feedback at [email protected]! If you like the show, please subscribe to or rate us on platforms like iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher! […]

56: Godzilla vs Ghidorah: All Kaiju Revenge Parade

by Thomas Mariani on May 28, 2019 at 5:01 am

With Godzilla: King of the Monsters stomping into theaters this week, Double Edged Double Bill is covering a bizarre kaiju two-fer. Adam Thomas, Thomas Mariani and returning guest Sam Brutuxan are here two discuss two films featuring the massive lizard. First up is the good feature Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster, in which Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra tag team to defeat the titular tri-headed dragon while a princess from Venus is chased by assassins. Then the bad feature Godzilla's Revenge, in which a young boy dreams of hanging out with Godzilla and his son while he is kidnapped from his home unsupervised by his working parents. Fun for the whole family! Together, our trio worries about Godzilla's reproductive health, praises the most underrated kaiju Giant Condor and pick the films for next week's episode on Troubled Productions! So Go Go parade through Tokyo with us, won't you? Buy a copy of Sam's book The Quietus Breaker: Brother Death on Amazon and read his blog Lounging Lizard. Also listen to Thomas talk about Brightburn and Superman: The Movie as a guest on The Horror Returns podcast. To stay up to date about the podcast, follow us on Twitter @DEDBpod, our Facebook page and send us feedback at [email protected]! If you like the show, please subscribe to or rate us on platforms like iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher! […]

55: Will Smith In Men In Focus

by Thomas Mariani on May 21, 2019 at 5:01 am

Witness Double Edged Double Bill going Big Willy Style over actor/rapper/blue boy enthusiast Will Smith! To celebrate the release of Disney's new Aladdin, Adam Thomas and Thomas Mariani are talking two films on the opposite sides of quality from Mr. Fourth of July himself. First, the bad feature Focus, in which Smith plays off his future Suicide Squad co-star Margot Robbie as a con artist. Remember it? Neither do our hosts! Then, our good feature of the original Men In Black, the film that solidified Smith as a bonafide star alongside his perfect straight man Tommy Lee Jones. Together, our duo are baffled by elaborate con games, divided over the effectiveness of Linda Fiorentino and excited to pick their choices for next week's episode about Godzilla films. So put on those airpods that you make look good and listen to us "Woooo" and "Haha Haha" about the Fresh Prince himself! To stay up to date about the podcast, follow us on Twitter @DEDBpod, our Facebook page and send us feedback at [email protected]! If you like the show, please subscribe to or rate us on platforms like iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher! […]

54: Keanu Reeves Is Tai Chi Dracula

by Thomas Mariani on May 14, 2019 at 5:01 am

Double Edged Double Bill is doing an episode about Keanu Reeves in honor of John Wick Chapter 3 Parabellum coming out? Whoa! Adam Thomas and Thomas Mariani bring back returning guest & massive Keanu stan Heather Thomas on to talk two films in Mr. Reeves' extensive and varied filmography. First up is our good feature Man of Tai Chi in which Keanu took his first stab as a director while playing a Bond villain running an underground fighting ring in China. Then, our "bad" feature is Bram Stoker's Dracula, a film all three of our hosts really like... but will fully admit it's largest flaw is Keanu Reeves playing stoic Englishman Jonathan Harker. Together, our trio explains how to train a child to perform wire work choreography, ponder how much baby powder is in grey haired Keanu's 'do and pick our films for next week's topic all about Will Smith! So download our most triumphant episode and party on, dudes! Listen to Keanu Believe It here. To stay up to date about the podcast, follow us on Twitter @DEDBpod, our Facebook page and send us feedback at [email protected]! If you like the show, please subscribe to or rate us on platforms like iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher! […]

53: Scott Pilgrim Vs. Chun-Li - The Legend of Video Game Cinema

by Thomas Mariani on May 7, 2019 at 5:01 am

Insert your coins and grab your controllers because Double Edged Double Bill is doing video game inspired films this week in honor of Detective Pikachu. Now, Adam Thomas and Thomas Mariani are both well aware of how bad most films adapted from video games are. Their bad feature Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li exemplifies that succinctly. So, the two of them opened up the qualifications to films with video game aesthetics, which fits perfectly for our good feature Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. Together, our Player 1 & Player 2 puzzle over Chris Klein's massive nostrils, consider joining the Vegan Police and pick the films for next week's episode that's all about Keanu Reeves. So press start now to get in on all this combo breaking back & forth! To stay up to date about the podcast, follow us on Twitter @DEDBpod, our Facebook page and send us feedback at [email protected]! If you like the show, please subscribe to or rate us on platforms like iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher! […]

52: Marvel Cinematic Universe Will Ragnarok Your Iron, Man

by Thomas Mariani on April 30, 2019 at 1:01 am

We're all still in the glow of Avengers Endgame blowing our minds (no spoilers here, so don't worry). Yet, there's another major finale to focus on: the end of the first year of Double Edged Double Bill! To celebrate 52 straight weeks of episodes, Adam Thomas and Thomas Mariani are returning to the subject of the very first episode with the Marvel Cinematic Universe alongside special guest Ryan Corderman! The good feature for our trio is Thor Ragnarok, the third Thor film that radically reinvented the Thor character by making him fun. Then our "bad" feature is the highly divisive Iron Man 3, which even our hosts can't universally agree on. Together our Avengers assemble to marvel at how thicc Hulk is, hear as Adam becomes everything he hates and pick the films for next week's topic on video game inspired films! Tune in now before the episode turns to dust! Listen to Thomas talk Batman Forever and the rest of Joel Schumacher's filmography on Zackman Forever. To stay up to date about the podcast, follow us on Twitter @DEDBpod, our Facebook page and send us feedback at [email protected]! If you like the show, please subscribe to or rate us on platforms like iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher! […]

51: Escape from Inside Llewyn Davis: A Redemption Song

by Thomas Mariani on April 23, 2019 at 5:01 am

By the very nature of Double Edged Double Bill's format - in which Adam Thomas and Thomas Mariani each have two films & have one from those pairs selected as the good and bad portion of a double feature - many potential films from previous episodes are left by the wayside. Given they've passed the 50 episode mark, our duo has decided to give two previous losers of the draw a chance at the spotlight. First the good feature is Inside Llewyn Davis, Thomas' alternative choice from their Coen Brothers episode. Then the bad feature is Escape from L.A., Adam's alternative choice from their dystopian fiction episode. Quite a double bill, huh? Together, our duo will advise Justin Timberlake to come to terms with his new dorky dad phase, pitch a Wyatt Russell take over of the Snake Plissken franchise and pick their films for next week's topic on the Marvel Cinematic Universe! So tune your guitars and play along with their ballad of redemption, ya post apocalyptic folkies! To stay up to date about the podcast, follow us on Twitter @DEDBpod, our Facebook page and send us feedback at [email protected]! If you like the show, please subscribe to or rate us on platforms like iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher! […]

50: Fantastic Mr. Monkeybone

by Thomas Mariani on April 16, 2019 at 5:01 am

Double Edged Double Bill turns the big 5-0 at 24 frames per second. Since the Laika title Missing Link came out recently, Adam Thomas and Thomas Mariani are joined by their returning animation enthusiast guest Scott Johnson to talk about two films featuring the artform of stop motion animation. First up is the good feature Fantastic Mr. Fox, where Wes Anderson brought his live action dollhouse aesthetic to a miniature landscape. Then, the bad feature is Monkeybone, in which Henry Selick's stop motion aesthetic was squandered on a lame fantasy comedy filled with crass humor and Brendan Fraser mugging. Together, our trio wonders how many corduroy jackets Mr. Anderson sacrificed, feels weird about heaping praise on Chris Kattan and picks the films for next week where our alternate choices from the last 50 episodes are given a chance at redemption! So get that cussin' cotton out of your ears and listen to the latest bout of chaos! To stay up to date about the podcast, follow us on Twitter @DEDBpod, our Facebook page and send us feedback at [email protected]! If you like the show, please subscribe to or rate us on platforms like iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher! […]

49: Red Sonja Of Oz - Return to Fantasy

by Thomas Mariani on April 9, 2019 at 5:01 am

Double Edged Double Bill returns to the realm of fantasy films! Along with returning guest Caitlin Turner, Adam Thomas and Thomas Mariani take a look at two fantasy films from the magical year of 1985! First is our bad feature Red Sonja, where Bridget Nielsen makes her awkward debut and Arnold Schwarzenegger is... briefly there. Then, our good feature is Return to Oz, the weird quasi sequel to the classic musical that Disney has tried to bury for being too dark. Together, this trio will marvel at the early stunt work of Ernie Reyes Jr, shudder at the dead eyes of The Scarecrow and pick their films for next week's episode on stop motion animation! Quick, download the episode now before Princess Mombi's headless body gets you! Listen to Adam's appearance on The Horror Returns talking the old and new Pet Sematary here! To stay up to date about the podcast, follow us on Twitter @DEDBpod, our Facebook page and send us feedback at [email protected]! If you like the show, please subscribe to or rate us on platforms like iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher! […]

48: Spawn of the Ninja Turtles

by Thomas Mariani on April 2, 2019 at 5:01 am

Double Edged Double Bill has done episodes on Marvel and DC Comics adaptations, but what about the films based on comic books outside the big two? Given a new Hellboy movie is on the horizon along with several other comic book films this month, Adam Thomas and Thomas Mariani decided to do a double feature of independent comic book film adaptations with returning guest Torrey Depina! The good feature is 1990's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the first cinematic adaptation of the anthropomorphic shelled beings. The bad is 1997's Spawn which brought Todd McFarlane's edgy demonic character to life... before killing it pretty instantaneously. Together, our trio contemplates the brunch habits of Casey Jones, declares that Spawn was the origin point of CGI hate and pick the films for next week's episode where we revisit the fantasy film genre! So grab that last slice of pizza and listen in on this radical discussion! To stay up to date about the podcast, follow us on Twitter @DEDBpod, our Facebook page and send us feedback at [email protected]! If you like the show, please subscribe to or rate us on platforms like iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher! […]

47: Tim Burton's A Big Fish in an Ape Planet

by Thomas Mariani on March 26, 2019 at 5:02 am

Put on your black and white stripes, you pale loners! It's time for Adam Thomas and Thomas Mariani to talk two films from director Tim Burton because Dumbo is coming out! The good feature is Big Fish, Burton's underrated bid for Oscar gold that will make you cry. Then, the bad feature is his very odd attempt to remake Planet of the Apes that will also make you cry... for different reasons. Plus, our duo grimaces over the idea of a CG deaged Jack Nicholson, marvels at the conceit of a Tim Burton/Arnold Schwarzenegger collab and picks the films for next week's episode on non-DC or Marvel comic book adaptations! So stop listening to that Danny Elfman playlist on a loop and switch over to us now! To stay up to date about the podcast, follow us on Twitter @DEDBpod, our Facebook page and send us feedback at [email protected]! If you like the show, please subscribe to or rate us on platforms like iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher! […]

46: Nothing But Prestige

by Thomas Mariani on March 19, 2019 at 5:01 am

Are you watching closely? Do you see double? Well, you certainly are seeing Double Edged Double Bill's new episode! Given Jordan Peele's new film Us is coming out this week, Adam Thomas and Thomas Mariani are covering a double header of films where actors play multiple roles. Our good film is Christopher Nolan's The Prestige, in which both Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale play dual roles while dueling with each other in the world of stage magic. Then, our bad feature is Nothing But Trouble, in which Dan Aykroyd directs himself and John Candy in multiple roles for an uniquely laugh-free comedy. Or whatever the hell that film is. Plus, our duo grapples with Nolan's phobia of digital video, tries to fight off the nausea induced by horrific man babies and picks their double header for next week's episode on Tim Burton! Hopefully you're listening in for all the secrets. Hear Thomas on the Horror Returns Podcast's March Madness Best Kill episode here. To stay up to date about the podcast, follow us on Twitter @DEDBpod, our Facebook page and send us feedback at [email protected]! If you like the show, please subscribe to or rate us on platforms like iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher! […]

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